RE- UN I O N 



OF THE 



SONS AND DAUGHTERS 



OF 



NEWPORT, R. I., 



August 23, 1859. 



By GEORGE C.'^MASON. 



COMPILED AND PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE GENERAL 
COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS. 



NEWPORT, R. I. 

FRED. A. PRATT 8c CO., CITY PRINTERS. 
859. 



/' 






TO THE 

SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF NEWPORT, R. L, 

AT HOME AND ABROAD, 

This Volume is 

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 



[C//); Seal.'] Mayor's Office, 

Newport, R. I., Auguft 31, 1859. 

My Dear Sir, 

The Committee of Arrangements for the 

Re-union of the Sons and Daughters of the Ifland of Rhode 
Ifland, on the twenty-third inft., have decided to publifh a 
full and accurate hiftory of the Celebration, in pamphlet 
form ; and they would be very glad if you would prepare the 
Work for pubHcation, efpecially as you felt fo much interell 
in the Celebration, and labored earneftly for its fuccefs. 
Yours Very Truly, 
WILLIAM H. CRANSTON, Mayor, 
And Chairman of Committee of Arrangements. 

George C. Mason, Efq., Newport. 



Newport, R. I., Oft. i, 1859. 

My Dear Sir, 

I have the pleafure of acknowledging 
the receipt of your favor of the thirty-firft of Auguft, as 
Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, requefting 
me to prepare for publication a full and accurate hiftory of 



VI 



the late Re-union of the Sons and Daughters of this Illand, 
and in compliance with that wifh, I herewith tranfmit the 
manufcript for your conlideration. 

At the time of the Celebration, I prepared for the Provi- 
dence Journal as full a report of all that tranfpired, as the 
hurry of the moment would permit. That report has been 
correded and expanded into the prefent hiftory. 

To the above, I have added a hiftory of the Redwood 
Library, prepared nearly at the fame time and for the fame 
paper, deeming it not out of place in a record of this kind, 
inafmuch as it was expefted that the inauguration of the 
enlargement of the Library would take place on the day 
following the Re -anion, but which ceremony was unavoid- 
ably poftponed on account of the illness of the Orator of 
the day. 

Very Truly Yours, 

GEO. C. MASON. 
Hon. Wm, H. Cranston, 

Mayor, and Chairman Com. Arrangements. 



THE RE-UNION. 



CHAPTER I. 



ITS ORIGIN. 



"Haft thou come with the heart of thy childhood back ? 
The free, the pure, the kind ? 
— So murmur'd the trees in my homeward track. 
As they play'd to the mountain wind. 

Then my tears gufhed forth in fudden rain. 

As I anfwered. Oh, ye fhades ! 
I bring not my childhood's heart again 

To the freedom of your glades. 

But I bear from my childhood a gift of tears. 

To foften and atone ; 
And oh ! ye fcenes of thofe blefs'd years. 

They fhall make me again your own." 

The twenty-third of Auguft, 1859, witneffed 
an event in the hiftory of Newport, R. I., long 
to be remembered with joy and pleafure; for, 
on that day, her abfent fons, for the firft time 
fince the colony was founded, returned at a 
given fignal to receive her greetings, and to 



8 • THE RE-UNION. 

renew their vows of attachment to the fpot that 
gave them birth. 

It was a happy thought, that of inviting the 
abfent fons and daughters of places which have 
been robbed to ftrengthen more profperous 
towns and cities, to return for a brief period at 
an appointed time, and no city or town could 
enter more heartily into the fpirit of fuch a 
move than Newport ; for, during a period em- 
bracing nearly a century, ilie has annually fent 
forth her children to make a name and a home 
elfewhere, in preference to bringing them up but 
indifferently at home. Her refources once were 
larger ; but time and the fluctuations of trade 
and commerce have greatly reduced them, and 
rather than educate her children in idlenefs, to 
leave them helpleflly dependent, (lie has pre- 
ferred to fend them forth into the world as foon 
as they were able to go alone. To colled the 
furvivors in Newport again, ere the grave clofed 
over the prefent generation, has been the wiili of 
many; and to this end, a call was made nearly 
a year ago, through the columns of the Mer- 
cury^ as follows : — " It is gratifying, at this feafon 
of the year, to welcome our young men, as they 
come, with enthuliaftic delight, to mingle in 



ITS ORIGIN. g 

familiar fcenes that are ilill dear as ever to their 
hearts. It is faid, that the inhabitants of the 
iflands are always diftinguiflied for the ftrength 
of their local attachments. This is certainly 
true of the natives of Rhode liland, and it 
would be ftrange if they did not appreciate its 
lovelinefs, lince even ftrangers have called their 
ifland home the Eden of America. How pleaf- 
ant it would be, if, for once, the abfent ones 
could all be gathered together to fpend one 
happy week at home. Go to New York, Bos- 
ton, or any other great centre of trade, even in 
the cities of the far Weft, and there you will 
find prominent among the merchants, manufac- 
turers, artifans, bankers and profefTional men, the 
worthy fons of Rhode Ifland. Who among 
them will respond to this call for a family meet- 
ing, and name fome fitting day in the fummer 
of 1859, when the fons and daughters, now 
"Exiles of Eden," may rejoice together upon 
our beach, and listen, once more, to the mufic 
of the ocean. 

"Breathes there the man with foul fo dead," 
that he would not make the greateft facrifices 
to vifit his own dear native ifle, and to be 
prefent at fuch a family gathering ? We truft 
not. Let us hear from the abfent ones. 



10 THE RE-UNION. 

" It is painful to reflect that the bone and finew 
of our place is thus continually withdrawn to 
build up other and diftant cities. Will our cap- 
italifts ever find it to their interefts to open new 
avenues of trade, and employ the activity and 
energy of our young men at home ? Is there 
no feafible plan by which our refources may 
be developed, and commerce and manufacture 
receive an impulfe which lliall draw back the 
capital and induftry of Newport from other 
channels ? Muft our beloved city continue to 
bear the ignoble reputation of being nothing 
more than a fafliionable watering place *? 

" Thefe, and other queftions of vital interell: to 
our native ifle, might be profitably difcuffed 
at a family gathering. Again we commend this 
fubject to the " Exiles from Eden." How many 
will come, with warm loving hearts, to meet 
their Newport friends at home, if their lives are 
fpared to Auguft, 1859*? Who will refpond to 
this fuggeftion, and name a day for our family 
meeting'? — R." 

The St. Louis correfpondent of that paper 
immediately took it up, and warmly feconded 
the move made by " R," and this, in time, called 
out other writers, all of whom as heartily ap- 
proved of the meafure ; but no fteps were taken 



ITS ORIGIN. 1 1 

for the confummatlon of fo desirable an end till 
the Spring of 1859 ^^^ finally opened, when a 
day was finally fixed upon, and the word went 
forth that the abfent Sons and Daughters of 
Newport were expefted to return on the 23d 
of Auguft, to be entertained by the Sons and 
Daughters at home. 

The magnitude of the undertaking, for the 
inhabitants of a quiet place like Newport, can 
hardly be comprehended, for up to the lait mo- 
ment, it was impofTible to fay how many would 
be prefent from abroad. The exodus which has 
been going on for fo long a period, has robbed 
her of the lifeblood which lliould have been 
retained to infure her own growth and pros- 
perity. It is a fingular fact that, notwithftand- 
ing the influx of the pad twenty years, during 
a period of more than four fcore years, the num- 
ber of the inhabitants has not changed. To-day 
the population is no greater than in 1774. The 
adual difference is only one hundred and fifty ; 
and whilft this old " commercial emporium " has 
been ftanding ftill. New York, Providence, New 
Bedford, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and other places, 
owe not a little of their fuccefs to the energy of 
men who here received the rudiments of their 



12 THE RE-UNION. 

education, — men who went forth in the fpring 
time of Hfe, wdth Httle more than a change of 
'clothing, to make a fortune and a name'. And 
in this they have been remarkably succefsful. 
They have done well ; reverfes they have met 
with, (for no man of bulinefs can hope to efcape 
thefe things,) but they have been fuperior to 
them, and with the buoyancy of the waves on 
which they ufed to ride in childhood, they have 
furmounted every obilacle, and have gained 
many a noble prize. 

Newport has reafon to be proud of the fons 
{he has tranfplanted, and the cities and towns 
they have benefited by their enterprife and indus- 
try have shown a proper appreciation of their 
value as citizens, by elevating them to pofts of 
honor and truii Providence fent a delegate who 
has, in times paft, held a diftinguiflied place in 
the legiflative aflembly of the State, and another 
(one of the poets of the day,) who has been 
twice honored as the chief magiftrate in the 
home of his adoption. And, out of fix repre- 
fentatives from New Bedford to the State Legis- 
lature, four of the number hail from this ifland. 
In the army and in the navy, in the pulpit and in 
the legiflative halls, in feats of learning and in 



ITS ORIGIN. 



13 



the mart, the fons of Newport maintain an hon- 
orable polition, and, to-day, they have come from 
the North and the South, from the Eaft and the 
Weft, to the place of their birth, as children, 
long abfent, return to the warm and hearty 
embrace of a mother who knows no change, 
and whofe life is bound up in the profperity 
of her offspring. No people were ever more 
ftrongly attached to the fpot where their early 
years were paifed than thefe fame iflanders, who 
may be allowed a more than ordinary degree of 
enthufiafm when they fpeak of '' the gem of the 
ocean." There probably is no ftronger feeling 
in the human heart, than that of attachment to 
" home," wherever that may be. We see it 
ahke in the Swifs, ftruggling for a bare fubfift- 
ence amid the eternal fnows of the cloud-capped 
Alps ; in the brawny Scot, whofe hills can 
fcarcely fuftain a ftunted growth of broom and 
heath, and in the more favored dwellers of a 
land flowing with milk and honey. Men tranf- 
planted to other fields, even where their condi- 
tion has been vaftly improved, have lickened 
and died without apparent caufe, breathing with 
their lateft breath the name of " home," and fol- 
diers who languiilied and drooped have been 
2 



14 THE RE-UNION. 

roufed to deeds of valor by the found of the 
fliepherd's pipe, which carried the mind back to 
fcenes dearer to the heart than hfe itfelf Moore 
wrote nothing more touchingly beautiful than 
" the Exile of Erin ; " no fong has contributed 
more to make the name of Burns a houfehold 
word than " Auld Lang Syne ; " and fo long as 
there is a fpark of love for this facred fpot in 
the breaft of man, the name of John Howard 
Payne will be revered for his gift of " Home, 
fweet Home." 

Thefe fongs and ballads are entwined around 
our hearts. We love them becaufe they are 
true to our natural inftinfts, and fill a place that 
would otherwife be made void and defolate. 
Home is the talifman that opens our hearts, — 
the " open sesame " that unlocks all our affec- 
tions, — and " home " was the burden of the 
fong on the twenty-third. 



(15) 



CHAPTER II. 

THE ORGANIZATION. 

His Honor, Mayor Cranfton, in his annual 
addrefs, June 6, 1859, ^^^^^^ ^^^ attention of the 
City Council to the propofed Re-union, and at a 
fubfequent meeting of that body, on the 2 ill of 
the fime month, it was voted to appropriate the 
fum of one thoufand dollars towards defraying 
the expenfe of the celebration, and a Committee 
of the following named gendemen were ap- 
pointed to make the neceffary arrangements: 

WM. H. CRANSTON, Mayor. 
Board of Aldermen, Common Council, 

John C. Ailman, R. J. Taylor, Pres't. 

Wm. C. Townsend. Thomas Coggeshall, 

John Stoddard, 
Wm. S. Cranston, Jr. 

At Large, 
Ex-Mayor Wm. C. Cozzens, and Philip Rider, Esq. 

This was the firft important move to carry out 
the wiflies of the many in regard to the Re-union 
of the Sons and Daughters of Newport. 

Subfequently, the above Committee invited 



l6 THE R5-UNION. 

the different incorporated bodies in the city to 
fend delegates to a Convention to be held in the 
City Hall, and in compliance with this requeft, 
the following appointments were made : 

Artillery Company, Col. Turner. 

St. John's Lodge, No. i, Gilbert Chace, Esq. 

R. I. Lodge L O. of O. F., Wm. B. Sherman, Esq. 

Newport Hiftorical Society, Hon. Thomas R. Hunter. 

Redwood Library, Geo. C. Mason, Esq. 

Atlantic Div., Sons of T., S. T. Hopkins, Efq. 

Board of Firewards, Ex-Mayor Wm. J. Swinburne. 

Mufical Inflitute, Ira N. Stanley, Efq. 

Philharmonic Society, T. W. Wood, Efq. 

Hook and Ladder Co., W. H. Greene, Efq. 

Engine Co. No. 3, Capt. Julius Sayer. 

'' " 4, " George S. Ward. 

" " " 5, Lewis Lawton Simmons, Esq. 

" " 7, Henry B. Burdick, Efq. 

At a meeting of thefe delegates, in connexion 
with the Committee appointed by the City 
Council, Thomas Coggeiliall, Esq. was eleded 
Secretary and Treafurer, and, on a motion, it 
was alfo voted that the following named gentle- 
men be invited to take part in the proceedings, 
as reprefentatives of the Prefs: 

James Atkinson, Frederick A. Pratt, and George T. 
Hammond, Efqrs. 



THE ORGANIZATION. I7 

It was alfo voted that a meeting of the citi- 
zens be called at Aquidneck Hall, to fecure the 
hearty co-operation of the whole public in a 
matter of fuch general intereft. 

The meeting was accordingly called, and 
fpeeches were made by Hon. Wm. C. Cozzens, 
in the Chair, and by Wm. P. Sheffield, John T. 
Bush, Wm. D. Lake, and Wm. S. Nichols, Efqrs. 
The following delegates, to reprefent the citizens, 
were alfo appointed : 

W. p. Sheffield, Efq., John T. Bush, Efq., 
N. M. Chaffee, Efq., Wm. Newton, Efq., 
D. T. Swinburne, Efq. 

At the next meeting of the Convention, to 
facilitate matters, and to divide the duties that 
devolved on the general Committee, the follow- 
ing fub-committees were appointed : 

Finance. 

Thomas R. Hunter, William P. Sheffield, 

Wilham Newton, N. M. Chaffee, 

Julius Sayer, S. T. Hopkins, 

F. A. Pratt, G. T. Hammond, 

Wilham S. Cranfton, Jr., G. S. Ward. 
D. T. Swinburne, 

Mufic, Salutes and Bells. 
R. J. Taylor, Thomas Coggefhall, Col. Turner. 
2* 



i8 



THE RE-UNION. 



Illuminations^ Arrangement Printing, and Record of 



of Tent, l^c^ 
Thomas Coggefhall, 
Julius Sayer, 
William S. Cranston, Jr., 
William B. Sherman, 
William Newton, 
John Stoddard, 
William C. Townsend. 



Vifitors. 

James Atkinfon, 

F. A. Pratt, 
I. N. Stanley, 
William H. Greene, 

G. T. Hammond, 
T. W. Wood, 
Gilbert Chace. 



Reception and Arrangement. 
William C. Cozzens, George C. Mafon, 

R. J. Taylor, James Atkinfon, 

William P. Sheffield, Philip Rider, 

Thomas R. Hunter, Gilbert Chace. 



Correfponding Committee. 
William H. Cranfton, 
Robert J. Taylor, 
George C. Mafon, 
WiUiam C. Townfend, 
Gilbert Chace, 
William H. Greene. 



Collation. 
Philip Rider, 
James Atkinfon, 
D. T. Swinburne, 
Thomas Coggefhall, 
John T. Bush, 
Wm. Newton. 



Chief Mar/hall. 
Hon. WILLIAM J. SWINBURNE, 
who subfequently made the following appointment of 
Aids. 
James Phillips, Henry W. Cozzens, 

James G. Cozzens, Charles H. White, 

J. Edward Nicolai, Henry G. Cottrell, 

Ifaac Gould, Wm. James Coddington. 



THE ORGANIZATION. ig 

The Committees, now fairly organized, at 
once prepared to perform their feveral parts, 
and the duty devolving on each one received 
proper attention. That on Finances commenced 
railing fubfcriptions in addition to the fum ap- 
propriated by the City. The Committee on 
Illumination and Decoration made arrangements 
with Col. Wm. Beals, the well-known decorator, 
to fupply the neceffary number of flags, felloons, 
mottoes, arches, lanterns, &c. That on Colla- 
tion contrafted with Meffrs. G. T. Downing and 
Isaac Rice, to furnifli refrefliments for twenty- 
five hundred perfons at dinner, and alfo for the 
evening's entertainment. The Committee on 
Tent made arrangements with Meffrs. Prince & 
Baker, of Bofton, for two large tents, — one 
capable of feating three thoufand perfons at 
table, and a fmaller one of the capacity of fifteen 
hundred perfons. The Committee on Mufic, 
Salutes, &c., engaged the fervices of the An:ier- 
ican Brafs Band, and Shepherd's Cornet Band, 
and arranged with the Artillery Company to 
fire a national falute on the morning of the 
twenty-third, and to have the various bells in the 
City rung at funrife, and during the time the pro- 
ceffion was moving. The Committee on Print- 



20 THE RE-UNION. 

ing and Record of Viiitors ordered a handfome 
record-book, ruled expreffly for the purpofe, 
and fo arranged as to give the name of every 
returned Son and Daughter, with their father's 
name and the maiden name of the mother, their 
prefent place of refidence, and their profelTion. 
The Committee of Correfpondence had a circu- 
lar prepared, to which reference will be had in 
the following chapter, and the printing of the 
different badges w^as alfo ordered, as well as the 
various tickets to be ufed on the occalion. 

The Badges worn by the returned Sons and 
Daughters were of blue fatin, bearing the City 
Seal, and '* Welcome Home, 23d Augutl, 1859." 
That of invited guefts, members of different 
focieties not in uniform, or wearing regalia, and 
citizens who took part in the procelTion, was of 
white fatin, bearing the City Seal, and " Re-union, 
23d Auguft, 1859." 

Fac-fimiles of thefe badges are here intro- 
duced. 

The different Committees, and the Marflials, 
were furniflied with rofettes. 



THE ORGANIZATION. 



21 




WELCOME 



HOME, 



23d august, 1859. 



22 



THE RE-UNION. 




(23) 



CHAPTER III. 

THE INVITATION AND THE RESPONSE. 

The following Circular was fent to every 
abfent Son and Daughter, whofe name and 
addrefs could be afcertained by the Correfpond- 
ing Committee: 

Newport, R. I., July 18, 1859, 

Dear Sir: The Corref ponding Committee of 
the Convention compofed of members of the 
City Council, and various focieties and incor- 
porated bodies of New^port, organized for the 
purpofe of providing for the reception and 
entertainment of the abfent Sons of Newport, 
who are expefted to affemble in Newport on the 
twenty-third of Auguft next, to participate in a 
grand re-union, would moft refpedfully afk your 
co-operation in afcertaining the number of Sons 
of Newport reliding in your City who probably 
will be prefent on that occalion, and to call 
your attention to the following fuggeftions : 

1. Every Son of Newport, on his arrival in 
the City, is invited to call at the Common Coun- 
cil Chamber, in the City Hall, corner of Thames 
Street and Long Wharf, and there regifter his 
name in a book prepared for the purpofe, with 



24 



THE RE-UNION. 



the names of his parents, his prefent place of refi- 
dence, and his profeffion. This book is to be 
carefully preferved and depohted in the archives 
of the Hiltorical Society, or in the Redwood 
Library — a valuable memorial, to be handed 
down to the generations that may affemble here 
on a limilar occafion, at fome future day. 

2. Every Son of Newport, thus prefenting 
himfelf, will be furniflied with a badge or fome 
diftingu idling mark by which his claims to a 
place in the proceffion, and during the ceremo- 
nies of the day, will be recognized. This, the 
Committee deem indispenfible, for the crowd on 
that day will be very great, and it has already 
been intimated that large numbers will be prei- 
ent, who have no fpecial claims on the Sons of 
Newport at home, and who, if not thus checked, 
would probably monopolize the places defigned 
for thole to whom we wifli to extend a true and 
hearty welcome. 

The Committee would alfo refpedfully alk 
that this communication be laid before the Sons 
of Newport refiding in your City, and that fome 
one be delegated to reply, in their behalf, to the 
greeting of his Honor the Mayor, and others 
appointed for that purpofe. All fpeeches on 
the occafion will be fkort. This, of neceffity, 
muft be the cafe, for we wifli to hear from all 
our abfent friends, and numerous long addreffes 
would not be the way to entertain thofe we wifh 
to take by the hand and converfe of Newport 



INVITATION AND RESPONSE. 2^ 

as it was, as it is, and as we hope it will be. We 
fliould like to know, at an early day, the names 
of thofe who are delegated to refpond. 

After the ceremonies, and for feveral days 
fubfequent to the twenty-third of Auguft, the 
different focieties will receive and entertain thofe 
formerly connefted with them, or now affociated 
with fimilar organizations in the homes of their 
adoption; on which occafion there will be ad- 
dreffes, muhc, &c. 

Believing that every Son of Newport, who 
has gone out to gather for himfelf and to make 
a name, will efteem it a privilege and a pleafure 
to return to the fcenes of his childhood at a time 
like this, in behalf of thofe we reprefent, we bid 
them welcome ; and may the memory of the 
day we are about to celebrate add another hal- 
lowed aiTociation to the pad, and bind yet more 
flrongly the ties which have entwined around 
the hearts and the homes of the Sons of New- 
port. 

With refped, we remain, dear Sir, 
Very truly, yours, 

WM. H. CRANSTON, Mayor. 
ROBT. J. TAYLOR, Pr</?. Common Council. 
GEORGE C. MASON, Redwood Library, 
WILLIAM C. TOWNSEND, Alderman. 
GILBERT CHACE, St. John's Lodge, No. i. 
WM. H. GREENE, H. ^ L. Co. 

It would be impofTible for us, if we would 
confine this volume within reafonable bounds, to 



26 THE RE-UNION. 

introduce here all the replies received. We 
fliall, therefore, feleft a Hmited number, to fliow 
with what fpirit the invitation was received by 
the abfent ones. 

The firil is from P. W. Engs, Esq., a Son of 
Newport, and now a diftinguiflied merchant in 
the city of New York. Unfortunately, he could 
not be prefent on the occafion, a matter of regret 
to his many friends in the place of his birth. 
He fays : 

" It is now nearly fifty-four years fince, leav- 
ing the place of my nativity, I call: my lot with 
the people of New York. This period has 
been, and continues to be, one of adive life, 
public as well as private ; yet I believe that in 
the midft of confequent engagements, I have 
never loft fight of the interefts of Newport, 
while my frequent vifits there, and intercourfe 
with my fellow-townfmen, has renewed and pre- 
ferved former endearments, fo that I have never 
left the lliores of my native ifland without cart- 
ing that lingering look behind which fighs for 
the pad and implores bleffings for the future. 
With fuch feelings and attachments, you may 
congratulate yourlelves that I have to fubftitute 
this communication in place of a verbal one, 
which would have been anything elfe but 
' Ihort,' had I fpoken of one tithe of the fads 



INVITATION AND RESPONSE. X] 

and incidents which my memory has ftored up 
from tradition and obfervation. 

If I felt at liberty to fpeak of men^ and could 
do it without being fubjeft to the charge of 
invidioufnefs, I fliould like to call up the mem- 
ory of our early political fathers, names that 
have carried with them veneration and refpect 
among all claffes^ and I would more effe daily 
refer to the commercial men of Newport, while I 
would not omit to name thofe who have hon- 
ored her in the United States Senate, and I would 
bid defiance to any city of the fame population 
in our country, to lliow that (lie has fent to that 
auguft body three men of equal qualification 
with thofe that went from Newport. 

But it will not be invidious to fpeak of John 
Bannister and Aaron Lopez, becaufe they were 
fo identified with Newport in the days of her 
greateft commercial profperity, that to mention 
them is to tell of her early commerce — thofe 
golden days, when, availing of natural advan- 
tages, our little city held a proud pre-eminence 
in the feaports of our country, and her mer- 
chants gave to their calling that character of 
induftrious integrity which is 'religion at the 
mart.' It was my fortune to have a grandfather 
contemporary with thefe, whofe extenlive expe- 
rience was imparted to many others, of whom I 
am not afraid to fay, that the records of his 
capacity as a merchant, call in the fliade any- 
thing to be met with in this great commercial 
city of New York, even in the prefent day." 



28 THE RE-UNION. 

Another letter, dated Waterloo, Augull 12th, 
is as follows : 

" For myfelf, and my three younger brothers, 
James, John E., and Henry, all now of Western 
New York, I have to fay, that although the 
Quaker in us is fomewhat oppofed to pageants 
of every kind, yet we do moft heartily approve 
of the propofed re-union of Old Newport's 
fcattered Sons. But one of our number has 
lately returned from Newport, and the others 
have to regret that it will not be convenient for 
them to revilit that matchlefs iiland of their 
birth this feafon. 

Knowing that the programme of Celebration 
will be carried out by the Committee with that 
order and true refpectability for which my 
townfmen were diftinguillied, even in the olden 
times^ and hoping that the now returned Sons and 
Daughters will there as brothers mingle together 
in that brotherly feeling that cafteth out all un- 
worthy pride and pretenlion, I fubfcribe myfelf 
an old, but, neverthelefs, an ever mindful, true, 
loving Son of Newport. 

SAMUEL WILLIAMS." 

The following, from Major Sherman, is dated 

Fort Ridgely, Min., Aug. 11, 1859. 
Gentlemen : — Your communication of July 
18th, conveying an invitation, in behalf of the 



INVITATION AND RESPONSE. 2g 

citizens of Newport, to the Sons of Newport, to 
be prefent at the grand re-union which is to 
take place on the 23d inft., has juft been re- 
ceived. ' 

It is with painful regret, from circumftances 
not within my control, that I fliall be unable to 
join you on fo interefting an occaiion — an 
occafion, it is hoped, that will be fraught with 
the happieft refults for the honor and good name 
of old Newport, and for the future profperity 
and fuccefs of our beloved Union of States. 

The natives of Newport, after enjoying the 
privilege of tefting the moral and political char- 
acter of other communities in which they have 
fojourned, will, in this re-union, have the ftill 
greater privilege of comparing their notes, fo to 
fpeak, and before their feparation forever, fettle 
upon, by a mutual interchange of fentiments, a 
religious and political confervative policy that 
will redound to the prefervation of the Union, 
the happinefs of future generations, and more 
indirectly, but not more furely, the peace and 
welfare of the whole world. 

Never could there be a more propitious feafon 
for the Sons of Newport to unitedly fow broad- 
caft over the face of this extenfive land that 
wholefome confervative policy for which the 
ancient town is fo diftnguilhed, and, by fo doing, 
unitedly frown upon all thofe who, in recent 
days, prefume to hold themfelves above the law, 
ignore the Conftitution of the land, and fome- 

3* 



30 THE RE-UNION. 

times even, under the cloak of religion, im- 
pioufly preach rank infidelity, difunion, and 
dillionor. 

I truft in God that this happy re-unioii of the 
Sons of Newport will not diffolve until a unani- 
mous pledge be formally, but fincerely given, 
to train up their children, fcattered over the 
whole land, with the Holy Bible in one hand, 
and the Conftitution of the United States, and 
Laws enafted in purfuance thereof, in the other; 
and without improperly refilling that licenfe 
neceflTary to all human accountability, to teach 
their children the neceflity, due to all found 
government, of loyally fubmitting their Bible 
and Conftitution to the interpretation of the 
proper tribunal. I have the honor to be, gen- 
tlemen, with high regard. 

Your townfman, 

F. W. SHERMAN. 

Another is from Lieut. Marin, ftationed on 
board U. S. Ship Ohio, Bofton harbor. 

• My Dear Sir : — I thank you for the kind 
invitation to join in the Celebration to take place 
in Newport, on the 23d inft., when the Sons and 
Daughters of the Ifland of Rhode Ifland are to 
have a re-union. 

I regret I cannot have the pleafure of being 
with you on the 23d, for I can well imagine. 



INVITATION AND RESPONSE. 3I 

Sir, the happy faces that will furround you on 
that day, when fo many of thofe now abfent 
will re-unite in the happy Hie-home of their 
childhood. 

My fympathies will be with you on that 
pleafant occaiion, for the ifland has become my 
home by adoption, and is the birth-place of my 
children. May they always be proud of their 
heritage. In your re-union I beg you to accept 
my humble wifli and fentiment. 

God blefs the Sons and Daughters of Rhode 
Ifland, wherever they may go. Her Sons are 
brave and independent. Her Daughters fo fair 
and good that neither clouds nor fogs change 
them. 

I am very truly your obedient fervant, 

M. C. MARIN, U. S. N. 

Surgeon General's Office, 
Washington, August 16, 1859. 

Dear Sir: — Your favor of the 18th of July, 
inviting me, as one of the Sons of Newport, to 
be prefent on the 23d inft., has been received. 

I know of no event which would have afford- 
ed me more pleafure than a re-union with old 
friends, and viliting old and familiar fcenes. 

There are but few Newporters in this city, 
and they have been made acquainted with the 
meeting of the 23d. 



32 THE RE-UNION. 

I very much regret that I cannot be with you, 
but beg leave to tender to you and your affo- 
ciates my cordial and friendly falutation. 

Refpe&fully and truly, 

R. C. WOOD, 

A[img Surgeon General, 

[Letter from Chief Justice Ames.] 

Providence, Thurfday, Aug. 18, 1859. 
Wm. C. Cozzens, Esg., Committee, &c. : 

My Dear Sir : — I have already been obliged 
to decline the polite invitation of the Committee 
to attend your approaching Celebration, on ac- 
count of the (late of my health, and of courfe 
muft requeil you to put into other hands the 
duty and pleafure of refponding to the toaft in 
memory of your departed profelTional worthies. 
They were certainly the glory of the Bar of this 
State ; and for talent, learning, and accomplifti- 
ments, were excelled in the Bar of no other 
State. I am glad that you deiign to honor them 
as they in their day have honored you, and re- 
gret that it will not be in my power to take part 
in the performance of fo pious a duty. 

Very refpedfully, 

Your friend and obedient fervant, 

SAMUEL AMES. 



INVITATION AND RESPONSE. 33 

[Letter from Gov. Fish, of New York.] 

New York, Aug. 22, 1 859. 

Dear Sir : — I have the honor to acknowledge 
the invitation which the Committee of Arrange- 
ments for the Re-union Celebration have (through 
you) kindly volunteered to me for to-morrow. 

I fliould be moft happy of the opportunity to 
be prefent on this interefting occafion ; but fome 
bufmefs engagements call me to New York, 
and compel me to deny myfelf the pleafure 
which the acceptance of the invitation would 
have afforded. 

Very refpeftfuUy, yours, 
J. HAMILTON FISH. 

Lancaster, N. H., Aug. 22d, 1859. 

My Dear Sir: — Your very kind note, of the 
17th inft., did not reach me until yefterday. I 
had been hoping for a long time to enjoy the 
pleafure of meeting many old friends, at your 
re-union to-morrow. I underftood from Rev 
Mr. Brooks, whom I met with in Bofton, in 
May laft, that the feftival would not take place 
before the very laft of this month; and that I 
fliould probably have notice in time to make 
arrangements for a vilit to the land of my 
fathers, — to the town, now a city, where the firft 
twenty-one years of my life were paffed. The 
delay has been occalioned by your fuppoiing my 
relidence was in Bofton, inftead of this far-olT 



34 THE RE-UNION. 

region, among the mountains of New Hamp- 
fliire, and upwards of three hundred miles from 
Newport. My profeffional duties yefterday, of 
courfe prevented all thoughts of a journey to- 
day. Indeed, it would have been impofTible 
for me to have got ready in fo limited a time. 
I defire to exprefs my fincere regrets that the 
only opportunity of meeting old friends in this 
world, is denied me. 

It would have pleafed me much, to have me- 
morized the virtues of the excellent men whofe 
lives were fpent in educating fouls for heaven. 

I could have given many interefting remin- 
ifcences of good Parfon Thurfton, of the Baptift 
Church. Parfon Eddy, Theodore Debon, Dr. 
Hopkins, John Bradley, Mr. Tenny, Mr. Smith, 
of the Moravian Society. My own minifter. Dr. 
Patten (I recoiled every family who fat under 
his preaching, and could delignate each pew 
they occupied in Clarke Street Church.) There 
was alfo a Methodift minifter, Mr. Merwin; and 
venerable Parfon Blifs, who lived in "Green 
End," and who once, on a Saturday, whilft per- 
forming the rite of baptifm at Gravelly Point, 
on Long Wharf, fell into the water and nearly 
loft his life. 

You muft take the will for the deed. It may 
not be wholly uninterefting to you to know that 
I am preparing a fmall volume of recolledions 
of my native place. 

Your name is familiar to me ; I knew the "old 
folks," and frequently vifited them. 



INVITATION AND RESPONSE. 3_5' 

Pleafe fend me a newfpaper containing the 
beft account of the Celebration, and oblige 

Your Friend, 

GEO. G. CHANNING. 

Wm. C. Cozzens, Esg. 

P. S. The above fignature I commenced fub- 
fcribing in 1803. The initial ftands for Gibbs, 
my moft excellent uncle. 

Halifax, N. S., Sept. 4th. 

Sir : — I have the honor to acknowledge your 
circular of the 18th of July, which reached me 
on the 19th of Auguft. 

Following its fuggellions, I found only one 
gentleman in Halifax, belides myfelf, a native of 
Newport — the prefent Chief Juftice of Nova 
Scotia, Sir Brenton Halliburton, Bt., a gentleman 
whofe high polition and perfonal worth would at 
once have pointed him out as the proper one to 
reprefent the natives of Newport here refident. 

In declining this office from increafing age and 
feeble health. Sir Brenton defires me to affiire 
you, Mr. Mayor, and his fellow townfmen, of 
the warm intereft and good wiflies he ftill re- 
tains for his native place, whofe earlieft affocia- 
tions are mingled with civil difcord, troops and 
arms. 

Concerning the political refult of that conflid, 



36 



THE RE-UNION. 



he wrote in after years : ' It was a noble attempt 
to regulate focial happinefs with the llighteft pof- 
iible interference with individual liberty.' Thus 
happily expreffing a fentiment in which all men 
now concur, though, unlike his, their memories 
cannot carry them back to thofe unhappy times. 

With regard to myfelf, I need not lay how 
honored I feel by your invitation, and how many 
friends, the companions of my boyhood, I hope 
I ftill retain among the Sons of Newport, 

I have the honor to be, Mr. Mayor, 
Your very ob't fervant, 

S. BERNARD GILPIN. 
To His Worfliip, the Mayor of Newport. 

Another from Haverftraw, under the fame 
date, is ligned " Uncle John ;" who Uncle John 
is has not yet turned up : 

" On ye morning of ye 23d inftant. Providence 
grant, may I have the hope and good pleafure 
to fee all my dear Newport friends once more. 
So go on, go on, go on. Love and Friendfliip 
to old, old, old Newport Ifland. 

Uncle John." 

Another is from an old gentleman who left 
Newport feventy years ago, expreffing his pur- 
pofe to be prefent, and declaring that he was 
" one of the boys who licked molaffes on the 
Long Wharf in the laft century." 



(37 ) 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE DECORATIONS. 



The decorations were numerous, appropriate, 
and, in fome inftances, very beautiful, and we 
would, gladly, here introduce a defcription of 
them all, but muft content ourfelves by refer- 
ring to the points which attrafted moft attention. 
Flags and banners were ftreaming from every 
point; bunting was never more in demand in 
this old town, even in its days of commercial 
profperity : flags of every nation in the world, 
and of no nation under the fun, were given to 
the breeze; from fteeple and turret, from win- 
dow and balcony, and from chimney to iign- 
pofl, bright colored ftripes were hung, — here in 
feftoons, there in wreaths, now fantaftically en- 
twined around a motto, or there flaunting in the 
wind, and everywhere proclaiming that the day 
was one of general rejoicing, — a feftival in 
which all hearts were to partake, and which was 
to cement anew ties already the ilrongefl: and 
moft enduring of all that find a home and reft- 
ing place in the heart of man. 
4 



38 THE RE-UNION. 

The City Hall was adorned with the national 
flag, taftefully arranged over the front, with fef- 
toons of bunting ; and, in the centre, the motto, 
''Hoper 

The ftores on the oppofite corners of the 
Parade, occupied by S. T. Hubbard and H. H. 
Young, were handfomely dreffed, as was alfo the 
whole front of the refidence of Auguftus GofFe, 
Efq., where was difplayed the motto, ^'-Welcome 
Romcr 

In the centre of the Parade, an arch with a 
fpan of twenty feet was raifed, the pillars of 
which were furrounded with evergreens. The 
whole was decorated with the "ftars and 
ftripes," and other flags, and the following 
motto graced the arch : ''Welcome to our IJland 
Homer 

The State Houfe was alfo taftefully arrayed 
in bright apparel ; the balcony, being a confpic- 
uous place, it was heavily draped with the 
national flag. In front there was a gilt buft of 
Wafliington, with the name of the Father of 
the Country below it. 

Ex-Mayor Cozzen's house, where His Excel- 
lency, Gov. Turner, was hofpitably entertained, 
was decorated with flags, and this motto over 
the door : " Welcome our Gonjernorr 



THE DECORATIONS. 3^ 

Engine Company, No. 3, covered the whole 
front of their houfe with flags and various de- 
vices. An arch was carried acrofs the ftreet, 
dreffed with evergreens, flags, &c., and bearing 
the motto, '' IFelcome'' From the tall enlign 
ftafF there was a triple line of fignal flags reach- 
ing from the truck to the ground, and over the 
entrance door there were two tigers valiantly 
defending a coat of arms. The members of the 
Company here entertained their guefts, Colum- 
bian Engine Company, No. 5, of New Bedford, 
numbering fifty-feven men, and a band, of fev- 
enteen pieces, as well as their own band alfo 
numbering feventeen. 

On the oppolite corner, the rehdence of 
Wm. Newton, Efq., there was alfo much talte 
difplayed in the decorations. 

The Liberty Tree was an object of great inter- 
eft, and we may here be permitted to turn alide 
for a moment, to give a flight outline of its hif- 
tory. In 1765, Capt. Wm. Read deeded his tri- 
angle lot, at the junction of Thames and Farewell 
Streets, to truftees, a felf-appointed body, and 
planted a tree in the centre, to commemorate 
the fpirited oppofition to the Stamp Act on the 
part of the people of Newport. During the 



40 



THE RE-UNION. 



time the illand was in the poffeffion of the 
Britiili, this tree was cut down, but on the return 
of peace another was planted in its place, the 
remains of which are ftill ftanding. A plate of 
copper, oval in form, and nearly two feet in the 
longest diameter, was engraved by Wm. S. Nich- 
ols, Efq., in 1823, and nailed to the tree. The 
infcription is as follows: 

"Tree of Liberty, planted April 25, 1783, by- 
John Williams, John Stevens, John Henfhaw, 
Walter Johnfon, Samuel Simpfon, George Perry, 
Thomas Mumford, Job Townfend, Noah Barker, 
Thomas Stevens, Benjamin Lawton, Robert Taylor, 
William Doderick." 

The tree was brought by thefe men from Ports- 
mouth, on their flioulders. During the lapfe of 
years, the wood had grown over the plate, fo 
that but a fmall portion of it could be feen ; a 
few days prior to the Celebration, the accumula- 
tion of wood, nearly, or quite three inches in 
thicknefs, was' cut away, the plate was polillied, 
and on the morning of the 23d it was beautifully 
decorated with a wreath, by the ladies in the 
neighborhood. 

In front of the relidence of Rev. Henry Jack- 



THE DECORATIONS. 4I 

foil, D. D., a red and white flag was difplayed, 
bearing the motto, — 

''God hlefs you and your Children^ 

In the window of Meffrs. Gould's ftore was 
feen a flag bearing this infcription : 

''Rhode IJlaiid Colony flag; received from Eng- 
land by Gov. J mold, 1663; i/fedtdl the vacuation 
of the Englifi, 1779." 

This was the Colonial flag, and was ufed from 
the time of the adoption of the Charter, Wed- 
nefday, November 24, 1663, to the Declaration 
of Independence, 1776, a period of 113 years. 
It was hid by the Colony Colledor, John Wan- 
ton, in the garret of his houfe, and on the re- 
moval of a chimney it was found, after the lapfe 
of eighty years, with other revolutionary relics. 

Zenas L. Hammond, Efq., difplayed a large 
white flag in front of his refidence, bearing the 
American Eagle, furrounded by the names of all 
the States in the Union. 

Atlantic Divifion, Sons of Temperance, threw 
out a flag 40 X 20; and, in front of their hall, 
they difplayed the triangle and ftar, emblematic 
of their order, with the motto—" ^here is Safety 



4* 



42 THE RE-UNION. 

Here" There were, alfo, decorations in tri-col- 
ored bunting. 

The Daily News office was alfo decorated with 
flags and bunting, taftefully arranged, with the 
motto — 

" "The Pen is Mightier than the Sword" 

Benj. J. Tilley, Efq., draped his houfe with 
feftoons of white, blue and red, with a Chinefe 
kite in the centre, which arrived from San Fran- 
cifco on the morning of the 23d, 

Decorations of the front of the Hall of Rhode If and Lodge, 
No. 12, /. 0. of O. F. 

Streamers of bunting, red, white and blue, 
were fufpended from the centre of the cornice to 
the jet over the firft ftory, forming a large tent; 
the fame, alfo, was feftooned acrofs the whole 
front. Beneath this, and refting on the jet, was 
a handfome arch bearing this motto — 

" Our Pafs Word^ this Day, is fFelcome" 

Beneath the arch were three female figures, 
reprefenting Friendfliip, Love and Truth. Suf- 
pended acrofs the ftreet were flags and dreamers; 
among which was a white flag reprefenting the 



THE DECORATIONS. 



43 



All-feeing Eye, with the rays; under the former 
was this motto — 

'''' Amicitia^ Amor^ Et Veritas r 

Beneath, a pair of hands clafped in friendfliip, 
''Rhode IJlmid Lodge, No, 12, /. 0. of 0. F.," 
alfo, the Three Links of the Chain. 

Meffrs. Swinburne & Peckham hung out 
three flags in front of their (tore, fo arranged as 
to fliow them all to advantage. 

The Mercury office was adorned with a gener- 
ous difplay of flags; and there was, alfo, a num- 
ber of flags and feftoons, reaching from that 
building to the oppofite corners of Thames and 
Mill Streets. 

At the corner of Pelham and Thames Streets 
there was another fine difplay; and Meflrs. New- 
ton & Co. draped their building with flags and 
dreamers, furrounding a ftar, with the motto — 
" Welcomer 

The Poft Office was decorated, and difplayed 
the motto — 

" Union and ReAJnionr 

There was, alfo, a difplay at Kinfley's Exprefs 
Office. 



44 



THE RE-UNION. 



The Cuftom Houfe was taftefully adorned, the 
bunting nearly covering the entire front. 

Engine Company, No. 8, decorated their 
building with flags and evergreens, with the 
motto — " Welcomed They alfo kept open-houfe 
all day, and the many who called there fared 
fumptuoufly. The members of Engine Com- 
pany, No. 7, alfo decorated their Engine Houfe. 

Wm. P. Congdon, Efq., dreffed his houfe at 
the head of Broad Street with national flags, with 
the motto — " IVekome Home " — fet off to ad- 
vantage on a raifed platform. 

John T. Stanhope, Efq., fo arranged the de- 
corations of his ftore on Broad Street, as to repre- 
fent the front of a large marque, with a ftar in 
the centre, bearing the motto- — " General Greener 

The Old Stone Mill was decorated with M- 
toons of tri-colored bunting, flags, &c., and in 
front of it there was this motto — " "Tltefame Old 
Mill" There were, alfo, two decorated Hands in 
Touro Park, for the bands which played there 
on the evening of the twenty-fecond. 

The Ocean Houfe prefented a very gay and 
animated appearance. Every part of its long 
corridors was hung with bright colors, mottoes 
and other devices, and the effeft of the whole 



THE DECORATIONS. ^^ 

was heightened by the prefence of the numerous 
vilitors, gathered there to witnefs the moving of 
the procellion, as it entered the tent on the ad- 
joining lot. 

The tent was adorned with hundreds of Kttle 
flags, furmounted by the Stars and Stripes; and, 
within, there was alfo a fine difplay of bright- 
colored bunting, arranged in feftoons, and around 
the fides were efcutcheons, each one bearing the 
name of a Prefident of the United States. 



( 46 ) 



CHAPTER V. 

THE ILLUMINATION. 

The City, on the evening of the twenty- 
fecond, prefented a gay and animated appear- 
ance, for many of the buildings in the principal 
flreets were illuminated, and from every corner 
fireworks were fent up, whilft hundreds and 
thoufands were abroad to enjoy the novelty of 
the fight. The chief attradion was the " Old 
Stone Mill," which, with the mufic-ftands on 
each fide of this venerable relic, difplayed the 
varied lights of five hundred Chinefe lanterns, 
arranged with confummate art, and to the ad- 
miration of all who congregated there to witnefs 
the fpedacle, and to liften to the delicious mufic 
of the bands, which played alternately for feveral 
hours. A finer fight was never witneffed in 
Newport, and it will not foon be forgotten. 

On the corner of Touro and Beach Streets, 
S. Abbott Lawrence, Efq., made a fine difplay of 
brilliant lights and fireworks, on the grounds 
attached to his eftate. Colored lights were fus- 



THE ILLUMINATION. 



47 



pended among the trees, and the whole neigh- 
borhood was illuminated by a blue light in the 
centre. 

In Broad Street, the principal illumination was 
that in front of Mr. John T. Stanhope's ftore, 
confifting of numerous Chinefe lanterns, arranged 
in the form of a triangle. 

On Thames Street there was a fine difplay. 
Ex-Mayor Cozzen's houfe was illuminated with 
a few Chinefe lanterns, and Aquidneck Engine 
Company, No. 3, made their houfe very attrac- 
tive by the liberal difplay of colored lights. 
After nightfall, the long lines of fignal flags, ex- 
tending from the ground to the top of their tall 
enlign-ftaff, were replaced by hundreds of Chinefe 
lanterns, making a pyramid of colored lights. 

The rehdence of Auguftus GofFe, Efq., on the 
Parade, was alfo decorated with lanterns and 
other lights, and the corners of the Parade were 
very gay and animated. Here, for hours, rockets 
were fent up, and other fireworks of various 
kinds were let off by men and boys without 
ftint. 

Benj. J. Tilley, Efq. illuminated the whole 
front of his building, and Engine Company, No. 
8, made a fine difplay at the fame time. 



48 THE RE-UNION. 

The Redwood Library was lighted up on the 
occalion, and for feveral evenings in fucceflion, 
much to the gratification of the returned Sons, 
who expreffed the pleafure it afforded them to 
witnefs the vaft improvement made in every 
thing relating to that venerable inftitution. 

R. L. Maitland, Efq., decorated his grounds in 
a fuperb manner, and as the Perry palTed with 
her living freight, her paffengers were delighted 
with the difplay. The whole fliore in the neigh- 
borhood was in a blaze of different colored lights, 
taftefuUy arranged, and producing the finest 
effea. 

The Steamer Perry was not outdone on this 
important occalion, for her owner, R. B. Kiniley, 
Efq., liberally allowed the expenditure of a gen- 
erous fum for colored lights, fireworks, &c. 



I 



(49 ) 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE GATH ERI NG 



The Gathering commenced a week or two in 
advance of the day, and as the time drew near, 
the number of returned Sons and Daughters 
rapidly increafed. On Saturday, the 20th of 
Auguft, the regiflry fliowed more than fix hun- 
dred names already recorded. On Sunday, the 
influx was very great, and on Monday, at an 
early hour, the crowd in the Mayor's Office was 
fo denfe, and increafed fo rapidly, it was found 
impoffible to continue the regiftry of the names 
by the flow procefs of writing one at a time; it 
was, therefore, deemed expedient to unbind the 
Record, and fpread the ftieets on different delks. 
This (tep afforded greater facilities for recording ; 
but even then, as the day advanced, the Com- 
mittee of Arrangements found it a difficult mat- 
ter to accommodate all who prefented themfelves, 
and at the laft moment, on Tuefday morning, 
many arrived only in time to join the proceffion, 
without having an opportunity to record their 
5 



50 THE RE-UNION. 

names. Subfequently, many reported themfelves 
at the Mayor's Office, where their names were 
entered, and the Hft, which we give at the clofe 
of the volume, embraces over eleven hundred 
names. We print only the names of the re- 
turned Sons and Daughters; the names of their 
parents are neceffarily omitted, but any perfons 
desirous of afcertaining thefe, can infped the 
Record at all times, at the Redwood Library, 
where it is kept open for the benefit of all who 
are interefted in the fubjecl. 

How the large concourfe alTembled on this 
occalion was accommodated and made comfort- 
able during their stay is ftill a myftery, for the 
city has never at any time had more fummer 
vilitors than during the month of Auguft, 1 859. 
But flill there was room for thofe who were fo 
near and dear to us. Every door was thrown 
open, and there was hardly a family in the place 
that did not number one or more guefls on that 
day. Every heart warmed with emotion at the 
fight of the returned Sons and Daughters, and 
thefe guefts of the city were made to feel that 
they were indeed at home. 

How many perfons were aftually prefent on 
the twenty-third, it would be impoflible to fay ; 



THE GATHERING. ^1 

we can only arrive at the number by proxlma- 
tion. There were no lefs than eleven fteamboats 
employed in bringing paffengers, fome of them 
of large capacity, and others making two trips 
each. The Empire State brought from Fall 
River the paffengers who had arrived there per 
railroad from Bolton; the Eagle's Wing came 
loaded, from New Bedford; the Golden Gate 
arrived, once from Briftol, and again from Eaft 
Greenwich; the Young America and Jenny 
Lind, from Taunton and Fall River ; the latter 
boat made two trips; the Perry, Canonicus, 
Ifland Home, Our Kate, and G. W. Lyon, from 
Providence; the Bradford Durfee from Fall 
River. 

To thefe muft be added the fail-boats and 
veffels in the bay, employed in bringing paffen- 
gers from neighboring places, and alfo the 
number of paffengers landed here feveral days 
prior to the day of the Feftival. The fteamer 
Perry, alone, brought from Providence, on Tuef- 
day morning, one thoufand perfons, and the 
evening before, (lie alfo had as many paffengers 
as file could accommodate; and the Eagle's 
Wing, on her return trip to New Bedford, had 
on board over two thoufand paffengers. We 



^2 THE RE-UNION. 

may fafely fay, that the whole number prefent 
in Newport on the twenty-third, was not lefs 
than twenty-thoufand, or more than double her 
population. 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE CELEBRATION, 



The morning of the twenty-third of Auguft 
was ulliered in with the ringing of bells, the 
firing of cannon, and other demonftrations of 
joy, and the decoration of the city, commenced 
a week in advance, was completed by an early 
hour. Old men, fome of them ftill ereft in 
form, and others bowed with age, were ftrolling 
through the ftreets, looking for the landmarks of 
their earlier days ; others, ftill in the pride of 
manhood, were hailing with pleafure every face 
known to them in earlier years ; and children, 



THE CELEBRATION. ^^ 

gleefome and happy, flocked around the fruit 
and candy (tores, or flood with wondering gaze 
before the triumphant arches and the fliowy deco- 
rations of the numerous pubKc and private build- 
ings arrayed in hoHday apparel. 

At the hour for forming the Proceflion, the 
Steamer Perry, with the Providence delegation 
on board, had not arrived, owing to the great 
number of her paffengers, and it was not till 
eleven and a half o'clock that the Chief Marflial 
and his Aids could form the Proceflion, on the 
Parade, in the following order, under the efcort 
of the Artillery Company, Col. Turner com- 
manding. 

AMERICAN BRASS BAWD, 

J. C. Greene, leader, 19 pieces. 
Newport Artillery, Col. C. W. Turner, 44 mufkels. 

Pawtucket Light Guard, Col. S. R. Bucklln, 45 mufkets ; 

which, by invitation of Col. Turner, of the Artillery, 

afted as body-guard to the Governor. 

His Excellency, Governor Thomas G. Turner, 

accompanied by his perfonal llafF, and by 

Colonel Magruder and Lieutenant Duryea, U. S. A. ; 

Adjutant General E. C. Maurin and Aid; 

Quartermafter General T. J. Stead and ftafF; 

Major General John Gould and ftafF; 

5* 



54 THE RE-UNION. 

Brigadier General J. S. Pitman and flafF; 
all forming, by invitation, the Governor's general flafF. 

AID. CHIEF MARSHAL. aid. 

Carriages containing invited gucfls and others. 

Among thefe were two officers of Perry's fleet, at the battle 

of Lake Erie, viz. : 

Lieutenant Thomas Brownell, of this city, 

and 

Dr. Ufher Parfons, of Providence. 

Torrent Engine Co., No. i. Captain William C. Townfend, 
forty men. 

GILMORE'S CORNET BAND, 

of Pawtucket, W. E. Gilmore, leader, 17 pieces. 

Aquidneck Engine Company, No. 3, Captain Julius Sayer, 

47 men. 

NEW BEDFORD BRASS BAND, 

Ifrael Smith, leader, 1 7 pieces. 

Columbian Engine Company, No. 5, of New Bedford, 

Captain John B. Hyde, 57 men. 

Hercules Engine Company, No. 7, Capt. W. S. Cranton, Jr., 

4O men. 

— MARSHAL — 

Divifion of Free Mafons, comprifmg 

St. John's Lodge, No. 2, of this city, Gilbert Chace, Mafter, 

40 men ; 

Wafhington Encampment, No. 1, Knight Templars, 

of this city, Nathan H. Gould, Grand Commander, 

25 men J 



THE CELEBRATION. ^^ 

Newport Royal Arch Chapter, No. 2, John Eldred, 

High Priest ; 

and 

Officers of Grand Lodge of Rhode Ifland. 

— MARSHAL — 

Divifion of Odd Fellows, comprifmg 

Rhode Ifland Lodge, No. 1 2, of Newport, Samuel Eyles, 

Noble Grand, 50 men ; 

Wafliington Lodge, No. 11, of River Point, George W. 

Niles, Noble Grand, 20 men; 

Friendly Union Lodge, No. i, of Providence, 

James A. Smith, Acting Noble Grand, 40 men; 

Eagle Lodge, No. 2, of Providence, 

George Hancock, Noble Grand, 30 men ; 

Hope Lodge, No. 4, of Providence, J. W. Dench, 

Noble Grand, 20 men; 

Narraganfett Encampment, No. i, 

Henry L. Webfler, Chief Patriarch, 30 men ; 

and 

Officers of Grand Lodge of Rhode Ifland. 

— MARSHAL — 

Divifions of Sons of Temperance, comprifing 

Atlantic Divifion, No. 6, Rev. C. H. Malcom, Worthy 

Patriarch, 60 men ; 

and 

Officers of the Grand Lodge of Rhode Ifland. 

— MARSHAL — 
Newport Mufical Inftitute, 20 men. 



56 



THE RE-UNION. 



Newport Philharmonic Society, 20 men. 

Carriages containing 

His Honor Mayor W. H. Cranfton, ex-Mayor Cozzens, 

and the 

Prefident of the Common Council, R. J. Taylor, Efq. 

Board of Aldermen, Members of the Common Council, and 

School Committee, on foot. 

— MARSHAL — 

Four carriages, containing invited guefts. 

His Honor Lieutenant Governor Ifaac Saunders, 

and other 

Members of the State Government. 

SHEPARD'S CORNET BAND, 

H. F. Shepard, leader, 19 pieces. 

HETURisj^Ei:) soisrs, 

SIX ABREAST. 

Many of them mingled with the different 
organizations, and we noticed a large number 
who did not join the ProcefTion until it arrived 
at the tent. Sons and Daughters were here from 
Maine, Maffachufetts, Connefticut, New York, 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Louiliana, 
Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Wif- 
confin, and many other States, and numbered 
between 1100 and 1200. 



THE CELEBRATION. 57 

The procelTion, which was a mile in length, 
proceeded up Broad Street, to Marlborough 
Street, down Marlborough to Thames, through 
Thames to Cannon, up Cannon to Spring, 
through Spring to Broad, up Broad to Mann 
Avenue, up Mann Avenue to Kay Street, and 
through Kay Street and South Touro Street 
to the lot north of the Ocean Houfe, at which 
point the efcort filed to the right, and the guefts 
of the day, preceded by His Honor the Mayor 
and the City Council, entered the tent and took 
their refpedive places at the tables. The feats 
to be occupied by different delegations were 
defignated by tickets confpicuoufly placed at the 
end of each table, by .which means all confufion 
was prevented. In the fmaller tent, the ladies 
who were entitled to feats were congregated, and 
when the proceffion entered, they came forward 
and joined their hufbands, friends and brothers 
at table. 

In the centre of the tent there was a larse 
platform fuftaining three tables; at the centre 
table. His Honor, Mayor Cranfton prefided, with 
R. J. Taylor, Efq., Prefident of the Common 
Council, at the head of the table on his right, 
Ex-Mayor Cozzens at the head of the table 



58 THE RE-UNION. 

on the left. At thefe tables many of the 
fpeakers of the day and of the invited guefts 
were feated; amongft the latter, were numbered 
His Excellency, Governor Turner and Staff, 
Col. Magruder and Staff; the Rev. Clergy of 
the City ; Rev. Dr. Balch, of Baltimore ; Rev. 
Dr. Vinton, of Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Rev. James 
McKenzie, Judge Chambers, ^Hon. Auguft. Bel- 
mont, Mr. LeRoy, M. Gourand, French Conful ; 
Dr. Parfons and Lieut. Brownell, furvivors of the 
battle of Lake Erie ; Paul Morphy, Efq., Gov. 
Fifk, J. A. and James Brown, Efqrs., Prof. 
Mitchell, Hiram Fuller, Esq., the Mayor of 
Baltimore. 

The work of feating fo large a body was by 
no means an eafy talk, but at laft it was fuccefs- 
fully accompliflied ; and when all eyes were 
drawn from the viands, temptingly difplayed on 
the tables, to the centre of the tent, from which 
point his Honor Mayor Cranfton had called the 
company to order, filence prevailed, and then, 
in a clear and audible voice, he thus addreffed 
the returned Sons and Daughters of Newport : — 

Retumed Sons avd Daughters of the IJland of Rhode Ifland. 

In behalf of the authorities and the people of 
Newport, I warmly and cordially welcome you 



THE CELEBRATION. 59 

home from your various wanderings and tempo- 
rary habitations in different parts of the land. I 
welcome you to the beloved and hallowed foil 
which gave you birth ; // is hallo-ived foil indeed^ 
and we Rhode Illanders are always and juftly 
proud of our noble heritage, — for it was on this, 
our native foil, that the great and glorious prin- 
ciple of religious liberty, which had fearfully 
agitated the old world, and contending for which 
thoufands of human beings fuffered a martyr's 
death, — it was here in Rhode Illand, where we 
were born, that this facred and eternal principle 
of religious liberty — freedom to worftiip God in 
an unmolefted manner, according to the dictates 
of each one's confcience, and abfolute feparation 
between church and ftate — was firft thoroughly, 
pradically, and fuccefsfully demonftrated by 
Roger WilHams, John Clarke, and their affo- 
ciates. From the firft fettlement of the State to 
the prefent time, the authorities have ever fcru- 
puloufly guarded, and the people have ever con- 
ftantly and facredly cheriflied, this hallowed and 
immortal right of man. 

In the dark and ftormy days of the American 
Revolution, no Colony was more firm, devoted, 
and enthufiaftic in its oppofition to the opprellion 



6o THE RE-UNION. 

of the mother country, and the fons of none 
were more vahant and felf-facrificing in their de- 
fence of the rights of freemen than our anceftors, 
the bleffed fruits of whofe rehgious and patriotic 
efforts we this day enjoy. It was in Rhode 
Ifland that the firfl: determined reliftance to Britifli 
tyranny was heroically manifefted by the burning 
of the British Schooner Gafpee, in yonder bay. 
Rhode Ifland gave her noble Greene, (who was 
fecond only to George Wafliington,) and a hoft 
of others, to the caufe of freedom ; and flie fuf- 
fered as much as, if not more than, any other Col- 
ony by the invalions of the enemy. In the laft 
war with Great Britain, flie was equally valiant 
and patriotic, and furniflied our heroic Perry, 
(who was born feventy-four years ago this day,) 
and many other brave fons of her foil, who accom- 
plillied prodigies of valor, nobly defended our 
proud and unconquerable ftripes and ftars, and 
protected our national honor from all tarnifli and 
infult. 

This is, indeed, an interefting occaiion; fome 
of you have returned to your native foil after an 
abfence of more than half a century ; many of 
you have wandered from home for a quarter of 
a century, while hundreds of others have been 



THE CELEBRATION. 6l 

miffing from us for many years. To-day you 
have all come home. Ah I what holy memories 
and facred affociations are cluftered around and 
centered in that word — home ! 

" Mid pleafures and palaces though we may roam. 
Be it ever fo humble, there's no place like home ! 
A charm from the fkies feems to hallow us there. 
Which, feek through the world is ne'er met with 
elfewhere. 

Home ! home ! fweet home i 
There's no place like home ! 

*' An exile from home, fplendor dazzles in vain ; 
O, give me my lovely thatched cottage again. 
The birds fmging gaily that come at my call. 
Give me thefe, and the peace of mind, dearer than 
all. 

Home ! fweet, fweet home ! 
There's no place like home !" 

Among you, I behold fome whofe hairs are 
whitened by the frofls of more than three fcore 
years and ten; many beyond the meridian of 
life, and a large number in the prime and vigor 
of intelledual and phyhcal ftrength. It is im- 
poffible to imagine the varied emotions of joy 
and fadnefs which throb in your bofoms. Our 
fea-girt illand is as beautiful now as it was in the 
6 



62 THE RE-UNION. 

days of your childhood ; our chmate is as deli- 
cious and healthy as it was then, and many old 
landmarks in various parts of the city ftill remain 
to remind you that you are at home once more. 
Many of you will obferve that the old churches 
where yau once worfliipped have all difappear- 
ed, with a lingle exception, — or have been fo re- 
moddled that you will fcarcely recognize them 
as the llirines where you received your early 
religious inftrudion ; the fchool-houfes where you 
were educated have moftly, if not entirely, been 
demoliilied; and on the green fields where you 
rambled and played in childhood's happy days, 
coftly and elegant manfions have been ereded. 
The Newport of to-day is not .the Newport 
which many of you left: in your boyhood 
and girlhood years. Still, there are cheriilied 
and enduring landmarks remaining which you 
cannot fail to recognize. The noble beaches, 
where the fublime and eternal anthems to 
Jehovah are ever heard; the fpacious and beau- 
tiful harbor, inviting an extenlive commerce to 
its bofom ; the rock-bound fhore, which has re- 
pelled the dalliing and maddened waves of the 
Ocean fince the morning of creation ; the old 
Stone Mill, with its alternate claflic and matter- 



THE CELEBRATION. 63 

of-fact traditionary hiftory, — the Redwood Li- 
brary, where Dr. Channing "ftudied theology 
without an inftruSor;" the "Hanging Rocks," 
where Biftiop Berkeley wrote his "Minute Phi- 
lofopher;" "Paradife," and Purgatory;" the old 
Synagogue, the fird erected in the United States, 
where the Jews ever worfhipped in an unmo- 
lefted manner ; the Cemetery, where repofe the 
remains of the Jews who, nearly a century ago, 
were among the prominent merchants of New- 
port, at the time the principal importations from 
Europe were made to this port, and when it was 
thought by a few progrejfive people that, at some 
diftant day. New York might pojfihly rival New- 
port as a commercial and mercantile city, — with 
other monuments of the paft, nearly all remain 
unchanged, to remind you that you are once 
more at home, on your green native ifle of the 
fea. 

But the companions of your childhood I where 
are they ? Here, and there, and yonder, are a 
few whofe warm hands will give you a token of 
early friendfliip, and your converfations of for- 
mer days will be pleafant indeed. Alas I as you 
walk through the cemeteries, you will find that 
a large number of the comrades of your youth 



64 THE RE-UNION. 

are there calmly refting in death's long re- 
pofe. 

"But their fpirits are with you to-day as you 
roam. 
O'er the land of your birth-place, your ocean-girt 
home." 

Above all, and more facred than all, is the 
reflection that you have returned, once more, to 
ftand by the graves of the loved and the loft, thofe 
who were near and dear to your hearts, and with 
whom you have paffed fo many happy days in 
this your ifland home, the fond recolledion of 
which, will linger facredly in your minds forever. 

I fincerely hope that the time is not very far 
diftant when all of you will return home and 
permanently locate on your native foil; if cir- 
cumftances would permit, I am confident that all 
of you would be moft happy to do fo ; for what- 
ever may be our fancies for roaming, or our in- 
ducements for excitement, and the profpects of. 
pecuniary gain abroad in early life, as we ad- 
vance in years, there is an inftinct within us 
which caufes us to yearn for the home of our 
childhood, our dear native land. 

" Breathes there the man with foul fo dead. 
Who never to himfelf hath faid. 



THE CELEBRATION. 



6j 



This is my own, my native land ! 

Whofe heart hath ne'er within him burned. 
As home his footfteps he has turned. 

From wandering on a foreign ftrand ? " 

We who have remained at home, rejoice that 
our townfmen abroad have fucceeded fo well in 
their various avocations in their temporary homes; 
and we are proud that fo many of you occupy 
eminent poiitions in your feveral locaUties. 

Although you have been fo richly favored, I 
am confident that you all hope to return, before 
the evening of life, fo that your doling years 
may be quietly paflfed in the cherifhed home 
and amid the beautiful fcenes where you first 
beheld the wonderful works of Him who creates, 
who rules, and who will finally judge the world 
in righteoufnefs by the unerring ftandard of in- 
fallible juftice. 

In concluding his addrefs, Mayor Cranfton 
gave the firft regular toaft : 

Our Invited Guejis, — The Sons and Daughters of the 
Ifland of Rhode Ifland ; they are welcome, welcome to the 
endeared fpot of their nativity. 

To this toaft Dr. Walter Channing, of Bos- 
ton, a returned Son of Newport, replied as 

follows : 

6* 



"66 THE RE-UNION. 



ADDRESS 

OF 

DR. WALTER CHANNING, 

AT THE 

RE-UNION AT NEWPORT, 

IN BEHALF OF ITS RETURNED SONS AND 
DAUGHTERS. 



Mr. Mayor : — I have been deputed by the 
Committee of Arrangements of this great Fefti- 
val to reply to your Honors welcome to the 
Sons and Daughters of Newport here affembled. 
Accept, Sir, our moft hearty thanks for this wel- 
come, and for the invitation from our friends and 
brothers, to attend this Celebration. We rejoice 
to be here — to be once more in the place of our 
birth, the home of our fathers, and where are 
their graves. InftinSively do our hearts turn to 
that great congregation of our dead — the accu- 
mulations of more than two centuries, and in 
filial piety and reverence would we fay, 

Requiefcat in pace. 



THE CELEBRATION. 67 

We have come, Sir, from voluntary exile, to 
our father's home ; not as prodigal fons, to make 
confeffion of fins — of wailed patrimony, and 
wafted lives, but to meet again our old, yes, 
earlieft affociates and friends, whom we have not 
met for many, many years, and, as in a family 
meeting, talk of the good old tjmes, and give to 
the prefent fome of their heartinefs and freflmefs, 
and be made happier and better by their memory. 

We rejoice to be here, to breathe again the 
pure air in which we drew our firfl breath, giving 
evidence that we had affumed independent life. 
We rejoice to walk again the ftreets our feet iirfl 
trod, to fee again the old places, the Parade — 
the fcene of our holiday experiences — and which, 
though fomewhat changed, (i?npraved, I believe, is 
the word,) flill tells its old flory. We mifs, indeed, 
the Boiling Spring, that wonder of our young 
eyes, where was conflant boiling without fire. 
The boys had poetry in the fervice of the Spring : 

Look yonder, look yonder. 

And fee a great wonder ! 

Four and twenty pots boiling. 

And (for fhortnefs,^ nary coal under. 

The old Court Houfe is in its place ftill, 
and there is the balcony from which public 
proclamations were made, on Election Day, of 



68* THE RE-UNION. 

the newly induSed Executive of the Common- 
wealth — to us the greateft ceremony within our 
knowledge, and which we thought could never 
be furpaffed. There, at the foot of the Parade, 
is the old Granary, (which half a century has 
left in its original proportions,) in which, in my 
boyhood, was a theatre, and where I went to my 
iirft play — more than lixty years ago was that 
event of my life, one which is never forgotten. 
It was the " Caftle Speftre," and that ghoft, at leaft, 
has never vaniflied. There is the Old Mill — 
which never was a mill, but is still in its malTive, 
enduring ftrength — which has outlived centuries, 
and has not become a ruin yet, and in which we 
look for and find the evidences of fettlements 
in New England, long, long before the Puritan 
age, from which is dated fo much of our hiftory. 
We rejoice again to fee and to wander among 
the places of once folitary beauty which abound 
within the limits of our ancient town — " The 
Hill," as it was called — changes, great changes 
are there. The Redwood Library, which then, 
in its architedural proportions, tafte, and beauty, 
flood alone, and which we always pafTed to the 
beach, is now in the centre of many houfes, the 
refidences of ftrangers who vifit our beautiful 



THE CELEBRATION. 69 

and healthful ifland for pjeafure and health, and 
who, by the tafte and beauty of their temporary 
homes, have, by happy contraft, added to the 
attractions and interefts of the natural beauty. 
We can hardly make out where we are in thefe 
changed regions, but we are not difturbed by 
fuch alterations or additions. They give life and 
charader to the old repofe. Is it not well that it 
does fo ? The wealth there ufed has given new 
value to all the furroundings. How much has 
the healthfulnefs of pure air and the neighboring 
fea contributed to the enjoyment and good of thou- 
fands who may never have enjoyed fuch before? 
The benefits of fuch a fpot are not confined to 
the body. The mind and the heart are made 
better by them. He or file who has felt one 
emotion of pleafure or of joy in the fcenes here 
prefented to the eye, has by that very fad been 
made better. A true thought, a true fentiment 
is never loft. It declares its being and power, 
through affociation, with all akin to it; nay, it 
will do more ; it will be the fruitful parent of 
new and wider truths, revealing to him or to 
her the greateft of them all, the moral and intel- 
ledual conftitution of human nature, and in- 
ftinSively incline thofe to whom the revelation 



70 THE RE-UNION. 

has been made, to the love of all other beauty 
and all other truth. 

We rejoice, Sir, to be again within fight and 
found of the grand old ocean, which holds our 
beloved illand in everlafting embrace, and which 
We again fee, not as in fome bay or arm of the fea, 
but face to face. We rejoice that we are again 
able to liften to the wide-weltering wave, as it 
now breaks upon our beautiful beaches, and now 
dailies againft our lordly coaft, rock-ribbed and 
ancient as the fun, and now in its gentle fighing, 
as, in its pure livery of foam, it bathes the fmooth, 
unwrinkled fand. 

I remember, a few years ago, being on the 
road between France and Spain, when my atten- 
tion was attraSed by the fudden appearance of 
the ocean. I afked what it was, and learned it 
was the Bay of Bifcay ; in other words, the wide 
Atlantic. You cannot tell how much I was 
moved by this old friend, in a new place, thou- 
fands of miles from home, and at once appealed 
to it in a few verfes, of which are the follow- 
ing :— 

Thou Ocean, from my diftant home. 
To welcome me haft hither come ? 
How happy now to ftay ! 



THE CELEBRATION. 



7» 



I thank thee for thy prefence here. 
In memory long I will it bear. 

With thought of Bifcay Bay. 

How ilrange that to this dillant ilrand. 
The echoes from my native land 

O'er thy wild bofom come ! 
Yes, dark Atlantic, in thy voice 
There's that which bids my heart rejoice, 

For ftill it fpeaks of home ! 

Thus, Nature fpeaks in her thoufand voices of 
beauty and power, and they are never heard 
truly in vain. 

We rejoice to be again in fight of our noble 
harbor, with its natural breakwater, old Fort 
Wolcott. It is not only the handfomeft, but, 
praftically, the fineft of harbors. In its depth of 
water, eafe of accefs and fafety, it offers to 
commerce advantages rarely known elfewhere. 
We, who have reached old age, remember the 
harbor as it was in earlier times, when it was 
filled with fliipping, coming from every clime 
and region, or going everywhere to which wife 
enterprife, and fafe fpeculation, pointed the way. 
Our population was then, half a century and 
more ago, nearly, or quite equal to what it is 
now. Commerce was a moft favored purfuit, 



72 THE RE-UNION. 

and wealth its frequent produd. We fent 
onions from Briftol, and New England rum from 
everywhere. We fent all forts of articles for 
exchange, and received all forts of merchandife 
in return. There was a large China, and Rus- 
fian, and African bulinefs done, and wealth 
came from it all. Mercantile buiinefs was a 
profeflion. Young men were regularly taught 
its principles, and thefe, when truly taught, are 
rarely forgotten ; how rare, then, were failures, 
and crifes, and panics, or fufpenlions of fpecie 
payments. No : there was the Newport Bank, 
on the old Parade, and there was Mr. Cailiier 
Mofes Sexias, and you got lilver or gold for your 
check, for the alking. Thofe who recall the 
Revolutionary war, cannot forget what Newport 
fuffered from that unnatural battle between 
parent and child, and which led to a final fepa- 
ration between them. No one can remember 
this without feeling aftonifliment at the healthy 
reaction, — the abfolute recovery to State and 
national health, nor how foon and how ilrongly 
it was marked in Newport by fuccefsful induftry 
and independence. 

We have thus far fpoken of the natural, the 
phylical charaderiltics of our native ifland; let 



THE CELEBRATION. -70 

US, for a few moments, talk of its Social, its 
Educational, Religious, and Political inftitutions half 
a century or more ago. Its people were emi- 
nently focial. They had the means, and knew 
their ufe in contributing to focial life. The 
neighboring country furniilied food of excellent 
quality, which was abundant and cheap. Every 
houfe had its garden, and the fineft vegetables in 
the country were raifed by all. Fifli were as 
plenty as blackberries, and caught without trou- 
ble ; and the right to catch was the birthright 
of all. Then the cow and the pig formed a 
part of the family circle, and how kindly and 
carefully were they provided for. Luxuries 
were within the reach of all. We cannot forget 
the fruits of that time. Why, peaches were a 
drug ; we bought them at the cart's tail by the 
peck or bufliel, and eat them as freely, but much 
more cheaply, than we now do the {tw berries 
which ftill grow wild in our woods. Plums, 
pears, goofeberries, ilrawberries, apples, quinces, 
were in profufion offered for fale. To think 
of depending on Jerfey for peaches, or New 
York for apples, we fliould as foon have thought 
of fending to either of thofe markets for frefh filh, 
when ice here was only ufed for Ikating. Talk- 



7 



74 THE RE-UNION. 

ing of fruit, a friend of mine, a young lady, went 
out the other day to buy a peach or two for a 
friend who was ill. She brought home two for 
fix cents each, and miferably poor, I thought, at 
that, faying that the beft were a quarter of a dol- 
lar each. Here we are living in a climate which 
is acknowledged to have been foftened by time, 
and (till the produds of the foil, when horticul- 
ture was never more fuccefsfully praSifed, are fo 
fcarce and fo poor that the burgeffes muft have 
good ftomachs, and great wealth, to buy or to 
venture to eat them. Newporters were capital 
livers. Newport was celebrated for its cooks, 
and where under heaven did or do people live fo 
long, and where are the women, I will not fay 
more, but as beautiful as they were, and doubtlefs 
ftill are, in this little ifland of thirteen by three ? 
But how of the Educational lyftem of our 
early days ? It was in exaft harmony with its 
other focial inftitutions. It could hardly be called 
a fyftem, for every mafter went upon his own 
hook, (as is the phrafe.) We had no public 
fchools. We had no fchool committees with 
delegated powers, to make a Procuftes bed for 
education, upon which every boy and girl fliould 
be ftretched, to learn leffons of equal length. 



THE CELEBRATION. 



75 



whatever their capacity, and who could not get 
up until they had learned them. We had no 
medal fyftem to make the ftretching feel lefs un- 
comfortable, while the poifon of emulation, when 
fuccefsful in its operation, might lead to reward. 
Our old fchools were the fimpleft things in the 
world, and the cheapeft. Few things were taught, 
and thofe perfedly. There was no flinching, 
no getting along without work. We were duly 
whipped and kept, when we failed, and truancy 
was a high crime. Teaching was cheap, — from a 
dollar and a half to four dollars a quarter. 
Books were very few, and very cheap. There 
were Webfter's Spelling-Book, and Webfter's 
Third Part. There was the Columbian Orator, 
abounding in the early oratory of the country, 
fuch as Hancock's and Warren's Fourth of July 
orations, and Dwight's and Humphrey's poetry, 
Morfe's fmaller Geography, Perry's Didionary, 
and Pike's or Dabol's Arithmetic. The coft of 
books was nothing compared with what it cofts 
to buy the books of fome fyftems of this day. 
In fome of thefe the quarterly expenfe of books 
is as much as was the quarter's payment for the 
entire earlier education. If the boy was to enter 
college, for which but little preparation was then 



76 THE RE-UNION. 

required, then he had a Virgil, a Cicero, a Salluft, 
a Greek Teftament, together with a Greek and 
Latin Grammar, and a book of Geometry, to get. 

[Here the fpeaker enlarged upon the general 
fyftem of education in our day, not only in 
America, but alfo in fome of the countries of 
Europe.] 

The next inftitution to which I addrefs myfelf 
is the Church. I ufe the word here generically, as 
embracing all places devoted to Chriftian worfliip. 
In Newport, however, it was diftinctive, the 
word " church " being only applied to the build- 
ing devoted to the Epifcopal fervice. All others 
were called meeting-houfes, or, in common fpeech, 
meetMioufes. Of thefe, there were numbers, and 
of fuch variety and fed, that I hardly remember 
two of the fame. There was the Synagogue, 
which, being the oldeft of the Temples of India 
and Egypt, deferves the firii: place. The wor- 
Ihip-day was on Saturday, and how often have I 
ftood juft within the door, and feen the Ifraelites 
fliuffling about with their hats on, and the Rabbi 
reading the evening fervice, all being in motion, 
I fuppofe, in imitation of the forty years' travel 
to Canaan. You may remember the command 
of a prophet to the people, " Take off thy ilioes. 



THE CELEBRATION. 77 

for this is holy ground;" but there is no com- 
mand to take off the hat. 

We had Moravians, Saturday and Sunday 
Baptifts, Methodifts, Newhghts, Calvaniftic, 
Hopkinfonian, Epifcopalian, Quaker, and oth- 
ers which I do not remember. To the young 
(and the youngeft were duly carried to meet- 
ing,) Sunday was a day of fevere trial. In 
fummer we fweated and ilept, being hurried up 
in prayer time. In winter we were frozen. 
Large and barn-like buildings, full of windows, 
and thofe often broken, and always loofe in the 
fafhes, no carpets, very hard cuiliions, and rarely 
thefe, no furnaces and no ftoves, except the old 
Dutch foot-ftoves, which the younger members 
were obliged to carry, much againil the will, to 
fecure to the older female members warm feet 
through the moft unconfcionably long difcourfes 
which ever got the name of fermons. The 
whole fervice was long, and the longeft prayer 
feemed to our young minds to partake of that 
eternity, about the eternal punifliment and eternal 
mifery of which the minifter fpoke moft, efpe- 
cially of the firft. Sunday, however, did not end 
with the bleffing. The interval between morn- 
ing and afternoon fervice, was filled with reading 
7* 



yS THE RE-UNION. 

the Bible, fpeaking hymns, hearing a fermon, 
and, always moft gratefully received, dinner. 
Now when we remember, as all of my day muft, 
that the preaching was ftrictly theological, tech- 
nical, fcientific, not to add metaphyfic, you 
cannot wonder that the young could not and 
did not underftand or fympathize with it ; nay 
more, that there were grown men amongft us 
who did not believe a word of it, who were open 
infidels. One of thefe was a llioemaker. He 
was an artift in his myftery : no one could fit a 
llioe like Manchefter. He was a reader, and a 
thinker. His iliop ftood not far from Mr. 
Thurfton's Baptift meeting-houfe. It was an 
octagonal building, which had ferved for a fum- 
mer houfe for many years, and had been car- 
ried to the fpot above referred to, by our artift. 
He was very flow in fulfilling orders ; he had no 
rival and could take his time. If you wanted 
flioes, it behooved you to fpeak for them a fort- 
night or month before the time. People of any 
thought for perfonal comfort, nay, luxury, em- 
ployed Manchefter. A minifter of our Second 
Meeting-Houfe did fo. He had engaged him 
for the advanced time, when, to his great furprife, 
the Monday following, Manchefter appeared with 



THE CELEBRATION. 



79 



the flioes in his hands. Rev. Mr. exprefled 

his furprife, along with his pleafure, at being fo 
promptly ferved. " Why, fir," faid Manchefter, 
to tell you the truth, I worked the whole of yes- 
terday to finifli them." Thus it was, that while 
our paftor was zealoully working in his vocation 
of faving fouls, his faithful flioemaker was as 
faithfully working in his, upon his foles. 

There was in Newport a clergyman, who is 
an hiftorical man, and of whom I will fay fome- 
thing, This was Dr. Samuel Hopkins. He was 
born in 1721, and died in 1803. He was a man 
of confiderable talent, and almofl incredible 
powers of application. He was the author of a 
fyitem of doctrines which received his name. Its 
leading principle was difinterefted benevolence. 
Dr. Ezra Styles publiflied a work entitled " A 
Contrail: between Calvinifm and Hopkinfianfm." 
Dr. Hopkins printed many works, I remember 
him only as a perfon and as a preacher. When I 
knew him he was an old man of about my pres- 
ent age, of very large frame, of which he made 
a moft awkward and ungainly ufe. His face 
was exceedingly remote from beauty, and muft 
have been inclined that way in early life. His 
voice — who can defcribe it. It feemed and 



80 THE RE-UNION. 

was quite beyond the control of his will. It was 
high, and low, and lideways. At times it was 
almoft inaudible, and fuddenly there came out 
a roar, or founds of ftrange, ftirring import, and 
effed. We boys did not know what to make of 
it, or of him. But with all his phyfical failures 
he had in beautiful perfection, and exercife, man's 
higheft faculties, the moral. He was the kindeft, 
the mofi: charitable, felf-facrificing of men. You 
loft in his life, his feSarianifm, his manner, his 
voice. You felt he was a man in his nobleft 
development, and you could not but reverence 
and love him. I have heard that he is the hero 
in the "Miniftefs Wooing," in the Atlantic 
Monthly. I have not read a word in that frag- 
mentary, ferial fpecimen of publication, a kind of 
novel printing exceedingly difagreeable to me ; 
but how Dr. Hopkins could have been manufac- 
tured into a lover, it is utterly impoflible for me 
to imagine. I know in his advanced age he 
married an old lady, (a Mrs. Weft, I believe;) 
but I always fuppofed that it was inftinft, not 
fentiment, which was at the bottom of that mar- 
riage, at leaft. 

This excellent man was of great plainnefs of 
fpeech. He fpoke his mind with as little cir- 



THE CELEBRATION. 81 

cumlocutlon as poffible. He was buying fome 
cloth one day, and taking up a yard-ftick, he faid, 
" Miller, your yard-ftick is too fliort." This was 
a rebuke for what he thought unfair meafure. I 
was for fome years fub-hbrarian of the Redwood 
Library, and kept the key, and had the privilege 
of making it my ftudy all the time, if I would 
open the library to the public every Wednefday 
afternoon. Very rarely did anybody come. 
Among thofe who did, was Mr. Cleland Kinlock, 
of Charlefton, South Carolina, who for many 
years pafled his fummers in Newport. His light 
was very poor, and I frequently read to him. I 
remember Gen. Scott was an occalional caller. 
Dr. Hopkins came now and then, and one day 
came with him, or about the fame time, a very 
lingular man, named John Stewart, commonly 
called JValklug Steicart. He walked over Europe, 
and Afia, and America, and often paffed a part 
of his fummers in Newport. You might fee 
him at the clofe of the day, fitting on the ftoop 
at Mrs. Carpenter's, in whofe houfe he lodged, in 
Thames Street, eating his evenihg meal of bread, 
fruit, and milk. He never eat meat, and thought 
the killing of animals for food the unpardonable 
fin. One day, being in the library with Dr. 



82 THE RE-UNION. 

Hopkins, he had much converfatlon with the 
Dodor, or, rather, much talk to him. He was 
patiently liftened to for fome time, when a paufe 
occurred. The Doctor now fpoke, and in the 
mod quiet manner, faying, " You-are-a-great-fool- 
Mifter-Stewart," and here the dodor and philofo- 
pher departed together, apparently as perfedly 
good friends as when they entered. 

The multitude of religious feds in Newport, 
did not leffen individual zeal for one's own. The 
ftrongeft antagonifm was between the Church 
proper, the Epifcopalian, and all other denomin- 
ations. Their church was the true one. It was 
rich, it lived handfomely, luxurioufly, it was ex- 
clulive. The feeling towards it is remembered. 
It was called Tory. It was the Englifli Church, 
adopting the Liturgy, leaving out King and 
Queen and the Royal family. Lords and Com- 
mons and Parliament affembled. There was 
one ftriking fad in the Church, ornamentation, 
which I have no doubt had its effect on opinion. 
The vane on the fpire was furmounted by a 
crown. Yes, the diadem was therein open day. 
The firfl: rays of the riling fun flione upon it ; 
and the laft rays of the fetting fun were refleded 
from it. It was a matter of thought, how this 



THE CELEBRATION. 83 

fymbol of royalty furvived the revolution. But 
it did ; and when we left Newport in the earlier 
years of the nineteenth century, there was the 
crown, and there I saw it to-day. 

Politics was fpoken of as an inftitution of our 
native town, as was religion and the fchools. 
But the parties of that day, lixty odd years ago, 
were not what they are now. There were but 
two parties to the great iffue which then divided 
men, here, and every where elfe, in the nation. I 
cannot imagine any thing which could have 
been more infulting to thefe parties than the fug- 
geftion that a fplit could have happened in either. 
The Federalift, or fometimes the fo-called Tory, 
or the Democrat, alfo called Jacobin, would have 
Ihrunk from the poffibility of fuch, and fo many 
difmtegrations, as rule the prefent political con- 
dition of the country. So various are thefe, and 
with fuch hair-fplitting diftindions, that one 
hardly knows where he is, whether on his head 
or his heels ; the only reliable perfon being he 
who belongs to neither fradional fide, or better, 
to none, without a queftion of either. But fo it 
was not then; no man could find reft on the 
fence ; it was picketted all over ; the ground was 



84 THE RE-UNION. 

the only fafe place to (land on. It was liter- 
ally, 

*' Under which king, Bezonian ? fpeak or die." 

The boys took fides in the univerfal conflift 
of opinion. The different parties wore cockades. 
The Federalifts wore black ones, the Englifli 
cockade, and were called Englifli Tories. They 
were torn from our hats, and then was battle. 
Jay's Treaty was a fubjed of terrible debate and 
conflid. Well do I remember feeing that great 
minifter, and noble man, carried in effigy to a 
vacant lot, in an old cart, with a rope round his 
neck, and burnt there amid the denunciations 
and yells of a furious party mob. Liberty poles 
were railed, with Liberty caps atop. Thefe were 
cut down by the oppolite party : and then was 
prepared the tar and feathers for a top drelling, 
fliould the political enemy of his country be dis- 
covered. 

General Wafliington died about this time, and 
for a moment there was peace. We know that, 
at the clofe of his life, in his lateft years, even 
he did not efcape the evil power of party. He 
had been twice eleded unanimoufly to the prefi- 
dency of the nation. Would this have happened 



THE CELEBRATION. 



85 



again '? His friends fucceeded once, and eleSed 
Mr. Adams, in whom Wafhington had confidence, 
and who had held offices neareft the throne. At 
the next trial, Mr. Jefferfon beat Mr. Adams, and 
fince then to this day only two out and out Fed- 
eralifts, or fuccelTors of that party, have reached 
the prefidency. Of thefe, one reigned thirty 
days and the other lefs than two years. Thank- 
ful fliould we be, and are, that the old and 
ftrong lines of party are broken — that the people 
are free to exercife private judgment in poHtics, 
as well as in every thing elfe. Why, Sir, how 
large is the chance for Young America, fo called, 
and, as I think, very unwifely too. We have 
the Whigs, the Democrats, the Hards, the Softs, 
the Mixed. The diflocation of parties — the de- 
compofition of forces — is lofs of individual power. 
What may turn up was formerly a matter of 
calculation, of figures, which, fome fay, never lie. 
But this is not the cafe now. No one knows 
what the political day may bring forth. Thankful 
fliould we be for this confummation devoutly to 
be wifhed — this rupture of parties. We may 
pick and choofe, or do neither, and lie fafely in 
our beds. Who of us from abroad knows what 
are the political rulings here in Newport this 
8 



86 THE RE-UNION. 

day *? For one, I do not. But this we all know 
and feel. It is our home, and by birthright fo, 
and to us the belt beloved — the mod beautiful 
fpot under the ikies. Would not the Father of 
his country look upon it, as he once did, with 
deep pleafure, and commit to its hofpitalities, to 
its pleafures, its wide ocean, thofe dear to him 
by birth, and doubly fo by apprehended fatal 
difeafe ? I am fure he would, and in confirma- 
tion of this I will here introduce a letter which 
he addreffed to my father, in 1783. 

Newburgh, 7th June, '83. 
Sir : My Nephew, who will have the honor of prefent- 
ing this letter to you, has been in bad health more than 
twelve months, and is advifed to try the climate of Rhode 
Ifland by his Phyficians. Any civilities which you may be 
kind enough to fhow him will be thankfully acknowledged by 
Sir, Yr. Moft OBd. Serv. 

Go. WASHINGTON. 

Wm. Channing, Esq. 

I cannot recur to this venerated hero, and moft 
honoured man, without being carried back again 
to our early days, and to that efpecially in which 
the news came of his death. His laft fpeech to 
Congrefs was dehvered on the 7th of December, 
1796. He returned to Mount Vernon to enjoy 



THE CELEBRATION. 87 

the pleafures of retirement ; but he was not left 
to perfed repofe. A war with France was 
threatened, and he was made Lieutenant-General 
of all the land forces of the country, the higheft 
office in the gift of any people ; in this never 
before held, and but once lince. Wafliington 
accepted the office upon condition that he fliould 
not be called into the field till his fervices were 
adually demanded, and to receive no emolu- 
ments until he was in a fituation to incur ex- 
penfe. That time did not come. His public 
toils were over, but his enjoyment of a private 
hfe was fliort. On Friday, 13th December, 1799, 
expofure to rain was followed by inflammation 
of the throat, and he died Saturday night fol- 
lowing, aged 67 years. 

Well do I remember the day we heard of his 
death. It was of a Sunday morning, in church. 
The minifter, having announced it, read the 
pfalm in which is this line, — 

"Princes mull die and turn to duft." 

The leader, in finging, came to this line. He 
began to fing it, his voice faltered, it flopped, he 
buried his face in his hands and fat down, weep- 
ing like a child. And why fuch deep emotion, 



88 THE RE-UNION. 

fo Itrongly exprelTed ? He was a tall, and very 
ftrong man. You would have fuppofed that 
nothing could have fo moved him, efpecially in 
his place, at that moment : but he had been a 
foldier under Wafliington, and near to him in 
the fervice. He had feen and felt his power, 
his moral dignity, his kindnefs, his devotion to 
his country. His death to him was as would 
have been the death of his father. He wept for 
him as a fon. I was then about twelve years of 
age. 

We have fpoken of Newport as it was more 
than half a century ago, and in its phylical, edu- 
cational, religious, and political afpeds, fo far as 
they appear to us from the ftand-point of the 
prefent. We have been obliged to recur con- 
ftantly to our perfonal obfervations and experi- 
ence. I cannot but have fome confidence in 
the corredness of the ftatements, becaufe they 
are of events and fads of my earlieft knowledge, 
and if it takes old age to know the force with 
which our earlieft impreflions are made, and the 
full power of memory with regard to them, have 
I not fome claim to be heard concerning them *? 
To the truly old man, who has retained health 
of mind and body, human life has but two 



THE CELEBRATION. 



89 



periods or eras — the earlieft days of conscious 
youth, and the lateltof age. The time between 
thefe, and all its events feems comprelTed into 
the narroweft fpace — fo crowded, fo confuled, 
that they cannot in their integrity be fummoned 
before us. In this is the confirmation of that 
ancient fcripture, " Our hfe is verily a hand's 
breadth." The occafion has confined me to my 
earlieft days, and to its inftitutions, and happy 
fhall I be in the thought that I have faid any 
thing to intereft and to ferve you. 

A queftion may arife, what have our inftitu- 
tions done for us, — for its people ? There is 
embarraflTment in the queftion. Its anfwer muft 
trench and that clofely upon the perfonal, which 
all know is a region into which careful men are 
never anxious to enter. But Newport is not 
without witneffes that (lie has done fomething for 
herfelf and for her country. Gilbert Stewart was 
an artift of the higheft ftanding in both Europe 
and America, and his works are with us for mem- 
ory and admiration.* Waftiington Allfton came 

* Stewart, who was a humorift as well as an artift, was 
very fond of coming to Newport. He flopped at Town- 
fend's, and often, often have I heard him praife the excellent 
8* 



go THE RE-UNION. 

here a boy, and received here the moft important 
part of every man's education, for it is in our 
earhefl: youth are laid the foundations of whatever 
of charafter, polition, and ufefulnefs to which 
we may attain. A family of many fons was bom 
and educated here, many of whom have been 
profeffional men, and fome of them profeffors in 
a College. Dillinguillied counfellors and ftates- 
men are numbered among the natives of New- 
port, among whom may be named William 
Hunter, who held a refponfible foreign official 
polition, and had the belt confidence of his fel- 
low townfmen, and a wide fphere in his profes- 
lional relations. James Hamilton was educated 
here, and attained to important political dis- 

fare and uniform kindnefs in that then famed refort of trav- 
lellers. *' So eafy is living in Newport," he ufed to fay, " that 
1 fear there are many lazy dogs around. Why, there were 
many ports up and down Thames Street, for the convenience 
of country folks, who faftened their horfes to them when they 
come to town. But at my laft vifit I found the ports were 
gone, and I afked Townfend why it was fo. Said he, there 
ufed always to be two or three sturdy men holding on to 
every port to keep themfelves from falling down, fo lazy were 
they : but the Town Council have taken the ports all away, 
in hope that their old cuftomers or dependejits will go to 
• work." 



THE CELEBRATION. ()1 

tinaion in South Carolina, his native State. I fat 
in the fame form at fchool with one whom 
Newport will always hold in cheriflied memory, 
and honor, — Oliver Hazard Perry. I fee him 
now in his youth, yes childhood, and remember 
how attradive he was by the beauty of his face, 
and the grace of his form. He was fo delicate 
in appearance that no one dreamed what he 
would be. He was, I hardly need fay, bred in 
the Navy, and, in the war of 1812, had com- 
mand of a fleet, when a young man. The bat- 
tle of Lake Erie, Newport and the country, 
and naval hiftory, will never forget, for our hero 
conquered the fleet of a nation which never 
loft one before. 

I began by referring to the love of our native 
place, — to the delire we have to return to it, 
and the pleafure which coming home always 
brings with it. Why is it that we thus love the 
place of our birth ? Why have all men done 
the fame *? The fon of the mift, in Scott, in 
his dying hour, begged that he might be turned 
fo that his eyes could reft once more upon his 
native hills, and clofe with their lateft vifion bent 
there. Why did the hero of Virgil, in his death- 
hour, manifeft his love for the place of his birth, 



92 THE RE-UNION. 

which is fo beautifully narrated by that immortal 
bard ; — et dukes inoriens reminicitiir Argos, Why, 
why is this *? It is an inftind which gives to it 
place in the human heart, and expreffion in human 
thought, life, word. We know not why or what 
it is. Like poetry, it is born with us, not made, — 
nafcitur, non fit. It fixes itfelf to fome fpot in 
God's wide univerfe, and that fpot is, in a word, 
home^ the place of our birth, the land of our 
fathers, where we got our earlieft culture, where 
we laid the foundation of character, pofition, 
ufefulnefs ; where, in a word, we were made, 
and from which no new birth can remake us. It 
was faid to be to circumfcribed regions the 
inftinft of love of place is confined. This is 
fhowed in the allufion firft made to Virgil and 
Scott, and which might in thoufands of others be 
illuftrated. It is fomething other, I had almoft 
faid, higher than the old word patriotifm ordin- 
arily indicates. Is it poflible to love a whole 
nation ? Does England love India, or love Can- 
ada ? Can we Americans love our whole world 
of Union, — who of us loves thofe States which 
are more than fix thoufand miles from the fpot 
on which we this moment (land, — here in our 
honored and beloved honie ? What love can 



THE CELEBRATION. 93 

ftand two Immenfe oceans of more than 3000 
miles each "? You cannot know fuch people. I 
may fay, races, for they confift of fpecimens of 
all the human races, Parthians, Scythians, Indians, 
and what not ? Our courfe of life is different 
from theirs, — manners, cuftoms, habits. They 
are above law, " a law to themfelves ; " in fliort, 
they dig gold, and we dig potatoes. Greece was 
fo loved becaufe it was hardly larger than the 
State of Rhode Ifland, and its capital was Ath- 
ens. Every body knew his neighbour, and his 
neighbour was every body. They called, and fo 
did Rome, a man born elfewhere, a barbarian. 
No matter what his culture, what his refinement, 
to the Greek he was fooliflinefs, and a ftranger. 

It is a curious fact in psychology that, though 
univerfal love is a moral duty, we cannot attain 
to it. Look at the family, — the family and its 
children. Here is a relation with which a 
ftranger muft not intermeddle. " Enter not into 
my fecret," is the language of every fuch human 
relation, and courtefy, if not principle, enforces 
and executes the univerfal law. Is it not fo in 
the larger relations of one's birthplace, his native 
home ^ Are we not jealous of its dignity, do 
we not willi it only good, would we not live for 



'94 THE RE-UNION. 

its proteSion and welfare, would we not die In 
its defence? Few, if any, may agree with me 
in thefe views ; but they are truths to me, truths 
of experience, and of reafon, and now that we 
are talking together as members of the fame 
family, dwellers in the fame home, the lame 
birthplace, I am not unwilling to exprefs my 
views concerning it. I live in a State, and in 
one of the cities of which a great number of my 
calling are from other States. We were not 
at once entitled to the rights of citizens. We 
were immigrants, and like others of that wide clafs 
in America, we obtained legal relidence or citi- 
zeniliip in due procefs of law. A certain time 
was neceflary before we could exercife the right 
and suffrage — not that this is practically a very 
highly valued right, for though our polls amount 
to 33,000, we never, whether for city. State, or 
United States objects, get half that number 
checked on our ward voting lifts. As I go with 
the majority, I never vote, leaving it to thofe 
more interefted in municipal and other affairs 
than I am, to fee that they are legally managed. 
I think that we fee in this iimple ftatement of 
fafts that he who leaves his birthplace never ac- 
quires or can acquire, for his new, accidental 



THE CELEBRATION. 



95 



refidence, the feeling he has for his natural 
home. It is to this he clings while life lafts, and 
how deep is that fentiment is abundantly de- 
clared by this vaft meeting of Newport's fons and 
daughters. We have left our adopted homes, 
our occupations, and our bought-pleafures, to 
come together again to the old family hearth- 
ftone and altar, and to fee, and to think, and to 
talk about fcenes and events which made up the 
earlieft and molt important periods of our lives. 
The feeling has often been mine, the wifli to 
come again to my true home, and to pafs the 
few remaining years of my life where life with 
me began. 

Some years ago, I printed, not publiflied, a 
fmall volume of verfes, or, as I call them, 
"lines with rhyming ends." One of the poems 
is called " A Summer's Day." I go into the 
country, and in a familiar grove, and pafs the 
day in narrating what occurred to me while in 
Scotland and England, more than half a century 
ago, as a medical ftudent. In the laft paflage of 
this poem, fo called, occur the following ftanzas, 
which exprefs the feeling or delire I have to 
return to the place of my birth. 



96 THE RE-UNION. 

" That vifion of the paft is gone ! 
In the old grove I fit alone, 
England beyond the fea : 
The prefent rufhes on my fight. 
The flanting fun with mellowed light. 
Gives the near world to me. 



I fain would Hve in earlier years. 

That day of boyhood's joys and fears, — 

The homeftead far away, — 
Stand on that neighbour beach again. 
Lie on the bofom of the main, 

A child with it to play. 

Long years have pafled fince I was there. 
The willing flave of duty here. 

Yes, here to Hve and die; 
But ftill the thought will often come 
And woo me to my native home, — 

To beach, to fea and fky. 

I greet that thought, and revel there 
In all it is my lot to bear. 

And grateful thank it too; 
The day may come when to its power, 
rU joyful give the willing hour 

Again to old and new." 



THE CELEBRATION. 



97 



Mufic was the next thing in order — " Should 
old acquaintance be forgot?" — fung by the 
whole audience. 

The Mayor now invited the guefts to partake 
of the collation, and the officiating clergyman, 
Rev. James McKenzie, offered up thanks to the 
Throne of Grace. 

The collation was handfomely ferved, and 
confided of profufions of cold meats of various 
kinds: fruits, cakes, and other refrefliments, 
waflied down with fparkling cold water. 

After the feaft, the Mayor called the audience 
to order, and the toaft-mafter, James Atkinson, 
Efq., gave the fecond regular toaft : 

Our IJland Home — " The pureft gem on the bofom of 
the ocean. 

Which was refponded to as follows, by ex- 
Mayor Rodman, of Providence, a returned 
fon : 



An old lady fat in an antique chair. 

In her home befide the Tea, 
With a heart as light and as free from care. 

As a happy old lady's could be. 
9 



98 THE RE-UNION. 

And fhe joyous watched the billows wild. 

As they crumbled along the flrand ; 
While cheerful dreams her hours beguiled. 

Of her children in every land. 

And each rolling wave, as it danced along 

With its vefture of opal fpray. 
To her lonely heart fang the cradle fong. 

Of her loved ones far away. 

And while fhe fat mufmg and watching the deep. 
Bright fpangled and crefted with foam. 

Low hymnings were heard, hke the whifpers of 
fleep. 
Home ! Mother, we are coming home. 

The old lady fmiling, arofe from her chair, 

A fong of her girlhood humming. 
And called on her children at home to prepare. 

For their brothers and fillers were coming. 

Then kind ^'Mrs. Redwood arranged her grey hair. 

And dufted her mouldering nooks ; 
And hung all her piflures with order and care. 

And covered and numbered her books. 

* Redwood Library has been thoroughly renovated during 
the paft year, and greatly enlarged ; and Mr. King, a native 
of Newport, but a refident artift of Walhington, has pre- 
fented to it a large colledion of hiilorical pictures from his 
pencil. 



99 



THE CELEBRATION. 

And old *Madam Trinity opened her eyes. 

With a look of wonder and doubt. 
And alked Mrs. Redwood, with air of furprife. 

What on earth fhe was fuffing about ? 

Our brothers and fifters are coming, faid Ihe, 

To make us a visit once more; 
And I'm fixing up and trying to be 

As handfome and fmart as before. 

Dame Trinity then prepared a new drefs. 

And mantled her figure of grace ; 
And faid to her clock, with pride I confefs. 

Time leaves on my vifage no trace. 

And fo they kept chatting and working the while, 

Aflbrting and ranging the things ; 
Madame Trinity yielding her crown with a fmile,- 

Mrs. Redwood the tribute of Kings. 

And thus all united, the great and the fmall, 

A welcome for us to prepare. 
Who are here at our mother's afFeftionate call. 

This feaft of her bounty to Ihare. 



■^ Old Trinity Church has been newly painted, and other- 
wife improved fince the library alterations were commenced. 
The fpire is capped with the crown of England, which was 
placed there before the Revolution. A confpicuous dial 
plate adorns the bafe of the fteeple ; but the clock, through 
late years, has ceafed to perform adlive duty. 



lOO THE RE-UNION. 

Oh ! then, let us clafp, all united once more. 
Our mother's loved, tremulous hand ; 

And pledge to each other the friendlhip of yore. 
While here round her table we Hand. 

Aye, here round this table as one let us vow. 
With life's lengthened Ihadows in view. 

That to her, — to each other, we'll ever as now. 
Be conftant, and faithful, and true. 

Though the North and the South, the Weft and 
the Eaft, 

May claim and demand us their own. 
We acknowledge the bond, — but this day, at leaft. 

We are Sons of old Newport alone. 

Thcfe fields and thefe ftreams, thefe rocks and 
thefe dells, 

Thefe orchards, thefe gardens, thefe bowers. 
The roar of old ocean, its ftrand and its fhells. 

Are all, by inheritance, ours. 

Then hail to our ifland ! — the home of our birth — 

Thefreeftofallthebleflfree; 
The loveliefl gem on the bofom of earth. 

And queen of the ifles of the fea. 

Third regular toaft : 

T^e Early Governors of Rhode IJland — The influence of 
their falutary example, as men and legiflators, has not been 
loft upon their worthy fucceffors. 



THE CELEBRATION. 101 

Replied to by his Excellency, Gov. Turner, 
as follows : 

Mr. Mayor: As I look around upon this 
beautiful fcene, this gathering of the Sons and 
Daughters of Rhode Ifland, I can but congratu- 
late myfelf that I have the privilege of being pre- 
fent as one of your guefts. 

Although not one of the Sons, my recolledion 
of the years fpent in this beautiful city, during 
my boyhood, are of fo pleafant a nature, that I 
am efpecially gratified to meet on this occafion, 
my early affociates and friends, many of whom 
now revifit the home of their youth after long 
years of abfence. 

But, Sir, intermingled with this pleafurable 
feeling, is one of regret, that it had not been the 
privilege of fome abler Son of Rhode Ifland to 
refpond to the fentiment which you have pro- 
pofed — one who could do juftice to the virtues, 
the patriotifm, and the felf-devotion of my early 
predeceffors in office. 

Rhode Ifland, Sir, is juftly proud of her early 

governors and legiflators, and flie has caufe to 

be proud of the men who fo nobly and fuccefs- 

fully gave their time, their talents, and their beft 

9* 



102 THE RE-UNION. 

energies to eftablifh and perpetuate a govern- 
ment that fliould promote peace, virtue, godli- 
nefs, and charity. Under that government, we, 
their defcendants, now enjoy all that a free and 
enlightened people can delire. 

Let us hope, Sir, that " the influence of their 
falutary example, as men and legiflators," may 
never be loft upon the people of this State, 
whofe privilege and whofe duty it is to feled 
their rulers, as, under our fyftem of government, 
we may always look for good governors, good 
legiflators, and faithful executors of the laws, 
while the people remain true to themfelves. 

Fourth regular toaft : 

The Hijfory of Rhode IJland — It has been accurately and 
faithfully written by one of her honored fons, and will ever 
be prized as a valuable acceffion to hiftoric literature. 

This was refponded to as follows, by Hon. 
Samuel G. Arnold : 

Mr. President : The terms of the toaft to which 
L am called to reply, enable me (to adopt the 
language of a learned fpeaker at the late Pilgrim 
Feftival, at Plymouth,) "to bring to this brilliant 
feaft, that homely New England commodity — 
a few fads ; " fads that may illuftrate why it is, 



THE CELEBRATION. 



103 

that this vaft affemblage has come up here 
to-day, to partake of the hofpitahties of your 
time-honored city, and to renew the holy cov- 
enant of State brotherhood, that, two centuries 
ago, made the Illand of Aquidneck and the 
colony of Providence Plantations one and indis- 
foluble ; a covenant that withftood the arguments 
and the menaces of the reft of New England, 
in defence of the novel idea of felf-government, 
that carried the feeble colony in fafety, although 
not unfcathed, through the horrors of Indian 
wars ; that, through the long period of confliS 
with France and Spain in the eighteenth century, 
enabled our forefathers to prepare for that laft 
great ftruggle for their cheriflied principles, in 
which it was deftined that they were to take the 
lead. That covenant of union, formed at Ports- 
mouth two hundred and twelve years ago, when 
the Parliamentary patent firft united the feeble 
and fcattered fettlements into one Colony, rup- 
tured four years later, ere its real value was fully 
recognized, but renewed in November, 1663, 
upon this fpot, when " a more abfolute, ample, 
and free charter of civil incorporation" was, 
" with much becoming gravity, held up on high, 
and prefented to the perfed view of all the 



104 "^^^ RE-UNION. 

people," (I quote, Sir, from the record of that 
memorable day,) — that covenant, I fay, which, 
in the chequered hiftory of our State, has lince 
been repeatedly renewed in many a council hall, 
and on many a hard fought field, may well be 
again renewed by the defcendants of thofe who 
formed it. It is for this purpofe that we now 
welcome back to the green fields, and the lovely 
fhores of our own Narraganfett, the far-wander- 
ing Sons and Daughters of Rhode Ifland. 

There are fads, Mr. Prefident, in the hiftory 
of this, the fmalleft and oldcfi independent State 
in America — (I say the oldcft. Sir, and before I 
get through, I will prove it,) — which may well 
warrant a feeling of honeft pride in all who can 
claim an heiriliip to Rhode Illand blood; faSs 
which may caufe that blood to pulfate more 
proudly through the veins, and may mantle the 
cheek with the flufli of exultant joy, whenever 
and wherever they are brought to mind. 

Much has been faid of that perfeft religious 
freedom which firft in the hiftory of the modern 
world, was realized in Rhode Ifland. It is lefs 
known that that kindred plant from a common 
flock, civil liberty, that was at the fame time 
proclaimed in this State, was no lefs a novelty, 



THE CELEBRATION. 



lOj 



amid the philofophical fpeculations of the i yth 
century. The earlieft of modern democracies 
was the humble plantation at Providence. In 
the reprefentative men of the two leading fettle- 
ments of the State were united the fpirit of civil 
and religious freedom, which make up the Rhode 
Ifland idea of intelledual liberty. The firfl 
charter was obtained by Roger WilKams, the 
fecond by John Clarke. 

Faffing over a period of half a century, 
every year of which is replete with ftirring in 
cident of fraternal il:rife, within and without, or 
of favage warfare, look for a moment at a fingle 
point conneSed with the ufurpation of Andros. 
The lad ad of the Legillature, before religning 
its power into the hands of a royal governor, was 
to fall back upon the original fyftem of town 
governments, exifting prior to the firft charter, 
by which means the liberty of the individual 
citizen was preferved, when that of the Colony 
was cruflied. This ad has been too little re- 
garded, amid the more falient and brilliant 
paifages of our hiftory, yet it is one that, more 
than any other, refleds the fpirit of our ancellors, 
and does equal credit to their courage and their 
fagacity. 



106 THE RE-UNION. 

Palling over another half century, from the 
refumption of the charter at the fall of Andros, 
we come down to the period of the fecond 
Spanifli war. Here I willi to refer to a faft con- 
nefted with this State that has almoft efcaped the 
notice of hiftorians. One caufe of that war was 
the trade with the French and Spanifli Weft 
Indies, which Great Britain defired to grafp. 
The old "Molaffes Ad,"paffed in 1733, impofed 
a heavy duty upon Weft India produce im- 
ported from foreign iilands into the northern 
colonies. Rhode Ifland protefted againft this ad, 
as a burden upon her commerce. Richard Par- 
tridge, a Quaker, and the fucceffor of Wm. Penn 
as the agent of Rhode Ifland, was requefted by 
the Affembly "ftrenuoufly to oppofe" certain 
additions to the aft, further reftrifting the Weft 
India trade, that were propofed in Parliament at 
the commencement of the war. The other col- 
onies, at the fuggeftion of Rhode Ifland, made 
Partridge their agent alfo for this purpofe. In the 
Britifli archives at London, upon a flielf whofe 
venerable duft is rarely difturbed except by a 
moufing bookworm, or fome more praftical ftu- 
dent of hiftory, repofes an ancient document 
mildewed by the damps of more than a centu- 



THE CELEBRATION. 



107 



ly's negleS. It is the memorial of Partidge to 
the Board of Trade, encloling the Petition of 
Rhode Ifland againft this bill. Now mark the 
words of that memorial. It afferts that " the bill 
divefts the colonifts of their rights as Engliflimen 
in levying taxes againft their confent, and with- 
out their being reprefented on the floor of 
Parliament." Taxation without reprefentation, 
the war-cry of revolution, which in the next 
generation was to rally the American colonies in 
the ftruggle for independence, was here firft 
founded by the Quaker agent of Rhode Ifland, 
to ceafe only with the difmemberment of the 
Britifli Empire ! 

Let not my Quaker brethren ftart at this 
trumpet-tone of war thus firft founded by one of 
their peaceful fed. Rhode Ifland Quakerifm, 
Mr. Prefident, was always rational and free, and 
while it claimed to follow no other banner than 
that of the Prince of Peace, it never would fub- 
mit to oppreflion. Colledively, it would not 
fight ; but it protefted upon paper, it gave fage 
counfel, in troublous times it did all neceflary 
and auxiliary duty of the camp, it did every- 
thing but fight ; and had not the more belliger- 
ent Baptifts far outnumbered the followers of 



108 THE RE-UNION. 

Fox, and rendered their fervice in the field fuper- 
fluous, we might have feen the ftory of the chol- 
eric Friend repeated on a larger fcale, and the 
drab coats thrown upon the ground by regiments, 
with the injunction, " Quaker, lay there." 

A quarter of a century later, we find this col- 
ony among the foremoft, if not the firft, to pro- 
pofe an American Union in 1764, when the 
renewal of this fame fugar act brought the fame 
queftion of taxation before the Parliament, and 
roufed the oppofition of the colonies. Four years 
later, a moft bitter feud, which had long divided 
the counfels of the colony, was ended by a union 
of the rival parties for refiftance to England 
when the queftion had come to involve the fu- 
premacy of the Parliament or of the people. 

Still four years more, we come to 1772. The 
Revolution had commenced. The firft blood 
{lied in the great ftruggle crimfoned the waters 
of Narraganfett bay; the firft lliot fired in 
the war told the fate of the Gafpee. Two 
years more brought the Continental Congrefs, in 
1774, which a town meeting in Providence was 
the firft corporate body to propofe, and the Af- 
fembly at Newport was the firft legiflature to 
adopt, by the choice of delegates to attend it. 



THE CELEBRATION. 



109 



Two more years bring us to the Declaration of 
Independence. And now, Mr. Prefident, I will 
prove what, at the opening of thefe remarks I 
afferted, that ours is the oldeft independent State 
in America. On the 4th of May, 1776, two 
months before the general declaration of the 
united colonies, the AlTembly of Rhode Ifland, 
having firil depofed the Governor for lukewarm- 
nefs in the caufe, fevered the laft link that bound 
her to Great Britain, by palling the " Ad abjur- 
ing allegiance to the Britifli crown." That ad 
conftitutes Rhode Ifland, by two months, the 
oldeft independent State in the Union. The 
records of our AlTembly had always doled with 
the loyal rubric, " God fave the King." At the 
clofe of the May feflion, the words were changed, 
and "God fave the United Colonies," appears 
for the firft time in the archives of the ancient 
plantations. 

But this theme, Mr. Prefident, is one for vol- 
umes, not for fpeeches, and I muft give way for 
others better able to inftrud and to amufe you. 
In clofing. Sir, I will fay that thefe facts in hiftory 
all bear upon one point. They all lliow the 
fpirit of our fathers to preferve the principle 
which their fathers implanted on this foil, which 
10 



no THE RE-UNION. 

we are to cherifli as a holy heritage. Permit me 
to offer, as an appropriate fentiment : 

The me??iory of one of the fatheri of Aquidneck and of 
Rhode Ifland — The learned phyfician, the devoted pallor, 
the accomplifhed fcholar, the Chrillian flatefman — John 
Clarke. 

The fifth regular toad : 

The Hiforial Society. — May ii proteft the fair fame of 
the founders of our political and Hterary inflitutions, — the 
memory of Abraham Redwood, the beneficent founder of 
the venerable inflitution within whofe walls Channing ftudied 
theology without an inftrudor. 

This was refponded to by Dr. David King, 
the Prefident of the Hiftorical Society, and of 
the Redwood Library, as follows : 

Ladies and Gentlemen: I thank you from the 
bottom of my heart for the kind reception which 
you have given to the toad that honors the His- 
torical Society, in which, as a citizen of New- 
port, I have fo deep and fincere an intereft. I 
have witneffed, not without deep emotion, the 
enthufiafm, and the joy which pervade the vaft 
affemblage of the Sons and Daughters of New- 
port, or, if you will, of Rhode Ifland. Happy, 
as if by an enchanter's wand, has our honored 



THE CELEBRATION. 1 1 1 

Mayor ereded this temporary ftrudure for our 
accommodation, fince no edifice previoufly 
exifting here, could contain within its walls 
an aflembly fo large, and animated by feelings 
fo intenfe and fo univerfal. How can fuch 
feehngs be compreffed within material walls? 
It is to give a free expanfion to thoughts and 
feelings honorable to our common nature. It 
is to allow all who honor this feftival with 
their prefence, to be within light, and within 
hearing of each other. I catch from the audi- 
ence the freedom of the occalion. And you 
will find me trefpalTmg beyond the proper limits 
of the fentiment to anfwer, which the Preiident 
of the day has called me upon this platform. 
Why is it that I obferve this intenfe feeling 
which glows in this alTembly? It is becaufe 
we have confecrated this day to a fincere and 
cordial expreilion of our love and admiration of 
the land of our birth. Outward nature is beau- 
tiful and grand. But while we enjoy the verdure 
of our native foil, the delicious air that breathes 
over our fertile fields, the unequalled beauty of 
our harbor and the illes that float upon its fur- 
face and the grandeur of Old Ocean, impreffed 
upon our imagination from youth with an ever- 



112 THE RE-UNION. 

lading beauty, we cannot forget that Rhode 
Ifland, I mean the ifland of Rhode Ifland, 
is not only endeared to our hearts by being the 
land of our birth, but embalmed in our mem- 
ories for her illuftrious paft, her great virtues, her 
great men, and her great achievements. 

What has been the great charaSeriiHc of our 
people ? I fay the love of freedom, the true 
fpirit of liberty, has animated the breads of 
Rhode Iflanders from the commencement of the 
colony. In 1638, Coddington, with a number 
of noble affociates, exiles from Maffachufetts, 
purchafed this ifland of thofe magnanimous Nar- 
raganfett Sachems, Canonicus and Miantinimoh, 
and laid here the foundation of an Englifli col- 
ony. Rhode Ifland "had the image of the 
Britifli Conftitution." From that time " flie had 
the fubftance." She elefted her own magi ftrates ; 
flie made her own laws, and regulated all her 
internal concerns. Coddington, to whom juftice 
has never been done — I fay it from long and 
profound itudy of his charafter — Coddington, to 
whom juftice has never been done, occupied the 
fame poiition in the Colony of Rhode Ifland 
that John Winthrop occupied in the Colony of 
Maffachufetts. Both were remarkable men, — 



THE CELEBRATION. 



113 



men of found judgment and great pratlical 
ability. The legiflation of Rhode Ifland, during 
his adminiftration, was adapted to the exigencies 
of the colony, and was founded on the belt 
maxims of the age. But on the fubjed of re- 
ligious liberty, on the 16th of March, 1641, 
Rhode Ifland, while Coddington was governor, 
promulgated a new maxim of State policy, and 
anticipated by more than a century the enlight- 
ened legiflation of a future day. It is with pride 
that I fay it, that here, on this very fpot, Cod- 
dington and his alTociates, in 1641, enacted the 
firfl: law granting complete religious liberty that 
was ever embodied in the legiflation of a civil- 
ized State. And this was accompliflied by 
" outcafts," noble outcafts, as you and I will 
believe, who, in the language of Burke, were 
not fo much fent as thrown out, on the bleak 
and barren fliore of a defolate wildernefs, three 
thoufand miles from all civiHzed intercourfe. I 
fay three thoufand miles from all civilized inter- 
courfe, becaufe, at that time, Rhode Ifland was 
denied all intercourfe with her civilized neigh- 
bors of Maffachufetts. 

Let us recoiled, on this day confecrated to 
good feeling, the motto of their Seal of State — 



10* 



11^ THE RE-UNION. 

a motto which will be appreciated at leaft by the 
fairer and better portion of this audience — Amor 
vincet omnia. Love conquers all things, indicative 
of the pacific and, confequently, fuccefsful char- 
aSer of their policy. Rhode Ifland continued in 
a career of profperity, not, indeed, without fome 
adverfity, under the succeffive charters of the 
Earl of Warwick and of Charles II. Her com- 
merce, her fillieries, and her fliip-building, all 
aided in the growth of her refources. In com- 
mon with her filter colonies, flie fubmitted to the 
principle of commercial monopoly, impofed by 
England, from 1660 to 1764. But the Stamp 
Ad, in 1764, inaugurating a new fyftem of com- 
mercial fervitude, was refilled inftinSively from 
the firit by Rhode Ifland. In October, 1764, 
Rhode Ifland denied the authority of Parliament 
to enad even laws of trade. She appointed a 
committee of correfpondence, and recommended 
to the other colonies union for the protedion of 
colonial rights and privileges. On the 15th of 
February, 1765, her remonftrance, like thofe of 
Connedicut, Virginia, and Carolina, was rejeded 
with fcorn by the Britifli Parliament ; and from 
that period until the Revoludon, with the excep- 
tion of a fliort interval, juft after the repeal of 



THE CELEBRATION. 



115 



the Stamp Acl, the fpirit of liberty in Rhode 
Ifland was in open defiance to the authority of 
the mother country. 

In the fummer of 1765, a band of five hun- 
dred men feized one of the boats of the Maid- 
ftone,^an English iliip of war, in the harbor of 
Newport, dragged it up Queen Street to the public 
fquare, at the head of Broad Street, where it was 
burned, amidft the execrations of an indignant 
people. The Maidftone had tyrannically perfe- 
cuted our marine, and illegally impreffed our 
feamen. 

On the 27th of Auguft, the effigies of Auguftus 
Johnfon, Martin Howard, and Dr. Thomas Mof- 
fat, the Stamp Mafter, and the two vindicators of 
the Stamp Ad, were drawn, in open day, in a 
cart through the ftreets of New^port, and were 
afterwards hung upon a gallows, ereded near the 
Town Houfe, amidft the derilion of the people. 
On the following day, the houfes of Moffat and 
Howard were alTailed and nearly deftroyed by 
what was called, in the Tory papers of the day, a 
mob, but which you and I will believe was com- 
pofed of the fons of liberty. 

On the 17th of June, 1769, the armed revenue 
Sloop Liberty was boarded by fome of the people 



Il6 THE RE-UNION. 

of Newport. Her cables were cut, and flie was 
allowed to drive on lliore at the Point. Her mafts 
and bowfprit were then cut away. Her boats 
were taken by the people and drawn through the 
ftreets of Newport to the Liberty Tree, where 
they were burned as an offering on the a\tar of 
Liberty. A few evenings after llie was fet on fire, 
and, drifting from the Point to the north end of 
Goat Ifland, her blazing wreck far round illumi- 
nated the harbor. By the diredion of the col- 
ledor, this armed floop had repeatedly and provok- 
ingly annoyed our veffels, by overhauling them, 
when leaving our harbor for their deftined ports. 

In December, 1766, Moffat aiked of Rhode 
Ifland compenfation for his lofTes, incurred by 
the popular tumult at Newport, during the 
Stamp Ad. His claims were founded on the 
Refolves of the Britiili Parliament, and the par- 
ticular recommendation of the King. Metcalf 
Bowler, once a diftinguiflied citizen of Newport, 
and the Speaker of the Affembly, declared this 
claim to be groundlefs, and totally inoperative 
on the minds of the free and independent repre- 
fentatives of the Rhode Ifland Colony. 

The prefs in Rhode Ifland was clear and ex- 
plicit in its denunciations of the commercial 



THE CELEBRATION. II7 

tyranny of Great Britain. The Newport Mer- 
cury^ in the year 1 770, had for its motto this re- 
markable paffage, — remarkable, becaufe exceed- 
ing in plainnefs and daring any ever adopted by 
any print, in any other colony, or in any other 
town: "Undaunted by TYRANTS,— Well 
DIE or be FREE." All honor to the memory 
of Solomon Southwick, the editor and proprietor 
of the Newport Mercury^ in 1770. 

On the 9th of June, 1772, the Gafpee was 
boarded by a brave fet of men, our noble brothers 
of Providence. The crew, with Lieutenant Dud- 
dington, were overpowered and put on lliore. 
The velTel was burned. All honor to the mem- 
ory of the men who performed this bold aft. 

The invafion and deftruction of the King's 
veffels, of the Sloop Liberty, in Newport harbor, 
and of the Gafpee, in Providence river, were re- 
garded in England as the moft daring infults, 
which colony ever offered to the fovereignty of 
Great Britain. They inflamed the indignation of 
Lord Sandwich, and he declared that he w^ould 
purfue the colony until he obtained the disfran- 
chifement of its charter. 

In 1774, on hearing of the prohibition of all 
importation of army and ammunition in America, 



Il8 THE RE-UNION. 

you difmantled the King's Fort, at Goat Ifland, 
took therefrom forty pieces of cannon, took every 
ball and cartridge, and drained the magazines of 
every grain of gunpowder. 

In 1775, you fent from Newport to the Camp 
at Cambridge, feveral military companies, of a 
part of the Army of Obfervation, raifed by 
Rhode Ifland in the King's fervice. When the 
drum beat for the commencement of the march, 
there was a univerfal exclamation from the 
Tories, affembled near the Court Houfe, (it may 
have been with a feeling, not of triumph, but of 
regret,) " There they go with halters about their 
necks." Many of thefe brave foldiers never re- 
turned. Some perillied in confequence of the 
sufferings and hardQiips endured in a winter's 
march through the wildernefs, in Arnold's Expe- 
dition to Quebec. Some fell under the walls of 
Quebec, many, fighting bravely, on the battle- 
field of the Revolution. Some few, indeed, did 
return, with laurels of triumph on their brows, 
but with no fubftantial reward, with nothing 
around or before them but a defolate home, and 
the ftern neceffity of laboring for their daily 
bread. 

The merits and fufferings of the Army of the 



THE CELEBRATION. 



119 



Revolution, its officers and foldiers, it is not 
neceffary for me to dwell upon, as it has confti- 
tuted a theme for fome of the mod eloquent 
efforts of Rhode Ifland Statefmen. 

The entrenchments on the hills around us, 
remind us riot only of the glorious battle fought 
on Rhode Ifland by the troops of Sullivan, of 
Glover, and Greene, but of the chivalrous fol- 
diery of France, Rochambeau, De Chaftellux, 
Lauzun, and others, who, at the inftance of the 
good king Louis XVI, our noble ally, came in 
the darkeft moments of our itruggle to our aid. 
Never can Americans, and certainly never can 
Rhode Iflanders forget the debt of gratitude we 
owe to France, or ceafe to venerate the names of 
the French officers who fought fo bravely for 
independence, whilfl: we were contending, not 
only againft England, " but the hireling fwords 
of German boors and vaffals." 

On this occaiion we cannot forget thofe true 
Patriots and able Statefmen, citizens of New- 
port, Samuel Ward, William Ellery, and Henry 
Marchant, who contributed to cherifli, to control, 
and to direct the Revolutionary fpirit in Rhode 
Ifland. One only of their number was permitted 
to fign the Declaration of Independence, William 



120 • THE RE-UNION. 

Ellery. We can imagine with what a refolute 
heart he did it. With the elder Adams he faid, 
" Sink or fwim, Hve or die, furvive or perifh, I 
give my hand and my heart to this vote." 

I have faid enough to lliow that we have 
caufe to be proud of the land of our birth. 

But, while maintaining our political inftitu- 
tions, and upholding, by noble efforts, American 
freedom, we have not neglected our literary 
inftitutions. At an early period, Berkeley, Red- 
wood, Collins, gave an impulfe to American 
learning — an influence which continues to be 
felt in our community, and which may lead, in 
time, (God grant that it may,) to the founda- 
tion of a noble Univerlity on this ifland of 
Rhode Ifland. 

Channing, born here and trained here for his 
maturer efforts, is undoubtedly the higheft lit- 
erary and philofophic charafter we have pro- 
duced. He is faid, within the walls of the 
Redwood Library, in the language of your toaft, 
to have fludied "Theology without an In- 
ftructor." — But we know that the Eccleiiaftical 
Polity of Richard Hooker was upon our flielves 
when Channing frequented our Library, and no 
man could read Hooker without being materi- 



THE CELEBRATION. 121 

ally aided in underftanding that Univerfal Law, 
to comprehend which, the nobleft minds in 
every age have afpired. How eli'e could it be, 
for, in the fublime perfonification of Hooker, 
her feat is the bofom of God, her voice the har- 
mony of the world. Undoubtedly Channing 
called no man mailer, followed faithfully the 
direflion of his great and noble nature, and 
obeyed only, fubmifllvely, the laws of the im- 
mortal intelled, and the higher laws of the 
Author of his being. Would that we had more 
Channings, — men who would be true to their 
nature — true to the noble afpirations which God 
has implanted in their breads. Mr. Mayor, 
Ladies and Gentlemen, in conclulion, in behalf 
of the Hillorical Society, I will fay, that we will. 
endeavor, on eyery and all occafions, to proteft 
the fair fame of our Fathers, and to preferve the 
memory of their achievements and virtues. 



Sixth regular toaft : 

The Founders of Rhode Ifland Colony, and the Founders 
of the State of Rhode Ifland. 



The reply was from J. Stanton Gould, Efq., 
of Hudfon, New York, a returned Son. 
II 



122 THE RE-UNION. 

Many a high and thrilling thought fwells in 
the bofoms of Rhode Ifland's Sons when the 
memory and the virtues of the patriarchs of their 
race are the fubjeds of their contemplations. 

Rome offered divine honors to the illuftrious 
men who laid the foundations of her dominion 
and her glory. Athens commemorated her early 
heroes and fages in ftory and in fong, and lav- 
iflied upon them all the wealth of fculpture and 
of painting. 

We offer no pagan rites to the Coddingtons, 
the Coggeflialls, the Eaftons, the Clarkes, and 
their illuftrious compeers who, in fuffering and 
in forrow, entered upon this domain, and laid the 
foundations of that noble heritage which has 
defcended to their ions all robed in lovelinefs 
and beauty. For them, no incenfe fmokes on 
fculptured altars ; for them no monumental mar- 
ble rifes in cloud-capppd majefty to the heavens ; 
for them no poet has invoked the mufe, nor has 
the orator linked their names with " thoughts 
that breathe and words that burn." But we, 
their defcendants, ever bear them enflirined in 
our heart of hearts, cheriiliing their memories 
with a filial reverence and a tender love, which 
needs no external token to enkindle or intenlify. 



THE CELEBRATION. 



123 



We are fcattered everywhere over the wide 
earth ; amid the ice-ribbed regions of the Ardic 
zone, under the burning fun of the equator, on 
the mountain tops and in the valleys, may the 
Sons of Rhode Ifland be found ; but wherever 
they are, whether on the land or the ocean, they 
bear with them hearts full of love and admira- 
tion for the patriots and fages who laid the foun- 
dations of liberty and law fo deep and fo folid 
in the Eden-like home of their youth and their 
afFedions. 

Thefe fentiments of filial reverence which He 
fo deep in our hearts at all times, may well find 
vocal expreffion on this folemn and aufpicious 
gathering of the long-feparated but now united 
Sons of Rhode Ifland. 

Other men have planted ftates and founded 
empires ; they have exhibited phylical courage 
on the field of battle, cunning in diplomacy, 
and ilirewdnefs in legiflation; they have even 
laid down noble principles of civil liberty, but 
when they attempted to apply thefe principles 
to pradice they have failed. 

It is the peculiar glory of the fathers of Rhode 
Ifland that they did all this, and more, — they 
adually pradifed what they preached. 



124 "^^^ RE-UNION. 

When they declared themfelves the cham- 
pions of hberty, it was Hberty for all that they 
meant, not for a fed, nor a race, nor a chque, but 
genuine, unmiftakable, inahenable hberty for 
every fon and daughter of Adam, without 
refpeft to color, or lineage or pofition. 

In 1652, they enaded the firft law that was 
ever palled by human legillation for unloohng 
the (liackles of the Have ; they would not daily 
pray to the Almighty to break every yoke and 
let the oppreffed go free, while they themfelves 
were impoling the yoke and inflifting the op- 
preflion. 

They fcored no Baptift's back with ftripes, 
no Quaker languiflied in their jails, no witch 
dangled an unfeemly fpeftacle on their gibbets. 
With the venerable Roger Williams, they heart- 
ily hated the " bloody tenant," and as heartily 
acquiefced in his famous declaration of foul-lib- 
erty, in that " it is the will and command of God 
lince the coming of his Sonne, a permiflion of 
the mod Paganilli, Jewifli, Turkifli, or Anti- 
Chriftian confciences and worfliips bee granted 
to all men in all nations and countries, and they 
are onely to be fought againft with that fword 
which is onely (in foule matters,) able to conquer, 



THE CELEBRATION. 



125 



to wit, ye fword of ye fpirit, which is ye word of 
God." 

Not only was Uberty for the body and the 
foul enjoined by the law and enforced by the 
Judiciary, but in the focial intercourfe of man 
with man, and family with family, of all ranks, 
feds and politions, its bleffed influence was felt 
in all its fulnefs. 

" An incident related to me when very young, 
by my grandmother when flie was very old, will 
illuftrate the kind relations which exifted among 
various religious feds in the early times, better 
than any formal ftatement. 

One pleafant Saturday afternoon in the month 
of September, a fine brig, with all her canvas fet 
to the breeze, was, feen gracefully rounding the 
fouthern point of Goat Ifland ; at the lame time 
an humble craft was pafTmg the northern point 
of the fame ifland. The brig belonged to her 
father, Stephen Wanton, (who reiided in what is 
now known as the Slocum Houfe, and occupied 
by John V. Hammet, Efq. She was from the 
Weft Indies, and was loaded with molaffes, 
Jamaica rum, lemons, limes, and other tropical 
fruits. The floop was the Greenwich packet, 
having, among other paffengers, Nathaniel 



iv 



126 THE RE-UNION. 

Greene, the father of General Greene, of revo- 
lutionary notoriety, who was an approved 
minifter of the Society of Friends. He came 
for the double purpofe of a focial vilit to his 
friend Stephen Wanton, and to attend the 
Friend's meeting on the enfuing day. The 
arrival of the brig, and of this old and dear 
friend, made it a holy day in my great-grand- 
father's family, and they were all prepared for a 
good time generally. 

The arrival of Nathaniel Greene was foon 
known through the town, and fliortly after the 
tea things were removed, a thundering knock at 
the front door announced the arrival of vilitors, 
and the two Baptift miliifters of the town were 
uftiered into the parlor. Hardly had they taken 
their feats when the Jewifli Rabbi was an- 
nounced, and then, in quick fuccefTion, came 
others, until at length every clergyman in town 
was prefent. After the current of converfation 
had fairly fettled into a regular flow, another 
gentleman made his appearance, which caufed 
a great twinkling in the eyes of each of the rev- 
erend divines, — it was Dr. Robert Rodman, the 
mod celebrated punch maker in the colony. 
There were many great brewers of this drink in 



THE CELEBRATION. 



127 



thofe days, and to be at the head of the frater- 
nity was confidered glory enough for any one man. 

The arrival of Dr. Rodman, and of the frefh 
rum and lemons from the lliip, was, in the united 
opinion of the clergy, a clear indication that the 
finger of Providence pointed diredly to a bowl 
of punch. 

The huge China bowl (now in the poffeffion of 
my mother) and ample materials were provided, 
and the doclor was never before fo happy in 
compounding them. There was not a clallical 
fcholar around the table who could be convinced 
that Jupiter, or any of the Olympian heroes, 
ever tailed nedar half fo good as the liquor 
which was glowing in the handfome China bowl 
before them. 

The unity of fpirit which enfued was not 
aftonifliing ; 

" Like kindred drops, they melted into one." 

Mr. Honyman thought there was not half as 
much virtue in a furplice as he had always be- 
lieved, and Parfon Clapp became convinced 
there was not half fo much fin in the government 
as he had been wont to imagine ; while the Jew- 
ifli Rabbi felt a growing conviftion that, if the 



128 



THE RE-UNION. 



MefTiah had not already come, the noife of his 
chariot wheels was even now heard in the air. 
(My grandmother's own words were, " They 
were as loving as puppies,") which, I take it, 
comprehends all that can be faid on the fubjeft. 

At length the time for parting came ; friendly 
farewells were exchanged, and the party faUied 
into the (Ireet. The Epifcopalian and the Hebrew 
interlocked their arms with death-like tenacity of 
grafp, braced themfelves againft the fide of the 
houfe, and abandoned themfelves to a wrapt con- 
templation of the heavenly bodies, which were 
fliining fo glorioufly in the blue vault above 
them ; the others, lefs devoted to aflronomy, be- 
took themfelves to the agricultural employment 
of making Virginia fences, from one fide of the 
ftreet to the other, with the moft aftonifliing 
vigor. Nathaniel Greene had been feized with 
a mild rheumatic affedion in the knees, which, 
though not fevere enough to prevent him from 
going up ftairs alone, yet was bad enough to 
make the afTiftance of a negro rather convenient 
than otherwife. 

Next morning, all the minifters informed 
their refpective congregations that they fliould 
omit their ufual afternoon fervice, and attend 



THE CELEBRATION. 



129 



the Friends' meeting, recommending them to do 
hkewife. The old meeting-houfe was accord- 
ingly filled to repletion at the appointed hour, 
and a folemn lilence foon fettled on the affem- 
bled multitude. At length Nathaniel Greene 
aroie ; (landing lilently for a moment, his eyes 
paffed flowly round the gathering, taking in each 
individual countenance in his furvey; then, 
railing his voice, tremulous with emotion, he 
told them he had delivered his meffage to his 
own brethren in the morning, and now his con- 
cern was for all, efpecially for the riling genera- 
tion of every name ; he felt that the time of his 
departure muft foon come, perhaps he might 
never fee their faces more, and the prefent might 
be his laft legacy of love. His text was, "Be 
ye temperate in all things." He fpoke of tem- 
perance in the indulgence of the palTions, in the 
purfuit of wealth and of ambition, in eating 
and fleeping, and, finally, in the ufe of ftrong 
drinks ; telling them how finful it was to abufe 
fo great a blelTmg, and that, while its moderate 
ufe was to be received with thankfgiving, yet 
to al)ufe it until one could neither Jiand nor go was 
a grievous fin, difgraceful both to the gentleman 
and the Chriftian. 



130 THE RE-UNION. 

I do not commend the profufe conviviality, 
but the anecdote is interefting, as lliowing the 
freedom of the fathers of Rhode Ifland from fec- 
tarian prejudice and bigotry. Nowhere else, on 
the face of the broad earth, could fuch a harmo- 
nious gathering of men of oppolite feds be 
found." 

For this largenefs of heart, for this catholicity 
of fpirit, for this wondrous elevation above the 
prejudices and vulgar paffions of their age, we 
do, on this occafion, afcribe all honor and praife 
to the venerable fathers of Rhode Ifland. 

Seventh regular toaft: 

Our Native State — The firft to eftabllfh civil and reli- 
gious liberty, the firft to arm in oppofition to, and the firft to 
declare itfelf independent of, the mother country. May 
peace be within its borders, and profperity within its bul- 
warks. 

Refponded to by Wm P. Sheffield, Esq., 
as follows : 

Upon this feftive day, when our wanderers 
have again returned to the fcenes of their child- 
hood, to be cheered by the caufes of joy, and to 
be faddened by the occafions for forrow which 
have happened fince their departure, to enjoy a 



THE CELEBRATION. 



131 



re-union of hearts with the companions of their 
earher Hfe, and be reminded of events in our 
hiftory by the fight of thefe fields and of the 
monuments here about us, each one which is 
affociated with fome event, with fome transac- 
tion which will awaken fome hiftoric, fome inter- 
efting recollection; is it not proper that we 
fliould recur, for a fingle moment, to thofe great 
principles which animated our fathers, when they 
firft held forth to the world the lively experi- 
ment that a civil State might ftand and bed: be 
maintained with a full liberty in religious con- 
cernments ^ " They were the firft to eftabliili 
not only religious, but civil liberty. Under the 
Charter of 1643, ^^^7 declared that the form of 
their government fliould be democratical. This 
form of government was preferved under the 
Charter of 1663. There is abundance of evidence 
in our hiftory to fliow how exactly our fathers com- 
prehended thefe two cardinal principles of their 
civil policy, — principles of government then at 
variance with all the experiences of mankind. 
They contained an emphatic denial of the divine 
right of kings, which refted upon the traditions 
of all the paft, and yet our fathers, as it were, 
reached forward and drew them back from the 



132 THE RE-UNION. 

civilization of future centuries. It is not too 
much to fay, that their difcovery and adoption 
was the attainment of one of thofe ftepping 
(tones, in the advancement of civihzation, which 
is attainable only after an age of trial, and from 
which fociety ftarts to another and higher eleva- 
tion toward the univerfal brotherhood of the 
human family. 

The caufes which induced the fettlement of 
Rhode Ifland contain evidence of the inflexibil- 
ity of the purpofes of the men who engaged in 
that work. Having been cut off from affocia- 
tion with all of the other colonies, and from all 
external aids, felf-reliance with them became a 
necefllty. Thefe virtues thus induced and thus 
cultivated, they imparted to their defcendants, and 
this argument of their hiftory, fo familiar to us 
all, has been, by every generation of Rhode 
Illand mothers, impreffed by precept and exam- 
ple upon their children. It is this inftrudion 
which has been fo forcibly endowed all Rhode 
Ifland men, even the humbleft in the State, with 
that blunt independence of charader, which 
makes them look upon all men as their peers, 
and only upon angels as their fuperiors. It was 
this diftinftive element of the charafter which 



THE CELEBRATION. 



133 



made Wafliington complain that the Rhode 
Ifland line gave him more trouble than any men 
in his army; " to which Colonel Olney made the 
laconic and no lefs charaderiftic reply — " That is 
precifely what the enemy fay." The men of Rhode 
Ifland, accuftomed from the beginning to be com- 
plained of by thofe from without their borders, 
have, with but little reference to what other people 
have (aid, fought to be faithful to their own con- 
vidions, and true to the principles upon which 
the State was founded. 

Upon the paffage of the Stamp Ad, our legis- 
lature declared that meafure of opprefllon to be 
unconilitutional, and that it fliould not be en- 
forced in the colony. The people organized 
and deftroyed his Majefty's veffels, the Liberty 
and the Gafpee. This was before the deftrudion 
of tea in Bofton harbor, and in May, 1776, the 
King's name was llruck from all writs and other 
papers in the colony. Rhode Ifland then de- 
clared itfelf independent of the mother country. 
The blight which that war brought upon the 
profperity of our State is evidenced by much 
that we can difcover at this late day. The bur- 
dens borne by the men of that time, the hiftory 
of the fons of liberty, of the " Newport AfToci- 
12 



134 



THE RE-UNION. 



ates" (whom Lorenzo Sabine miftakenly charac- 
terizes as tories,) the Rhode Ifland blood llied 
upon almoft every battle-field of the revolution, 
all atteft the fpirit of the men of that time. It is 
true Rhode Ifland took time to deliberate before 
adopting the Conftitution and entering into the 
union of the States. But, upon mature reflec- 
tion, it was adopted as their folemn and deliber- 
ate ad; and palfled be the arm which fliall ever 
be raifed to ftrike a blow at that Conftitution, and 
cloven be the tongue which fliall ever be ftirred 
to weaken the bonds of that union. Thefe leg- 
acies, fo bountiful in blefllngs, confecrated by 
the toil, and blood, and plighted faith of our 
fathers, let us venerate and preferve as w^e ought, 
and lilence, by a univerfal hifs, the voice of the 
"black-hearted traitor" who feeks to undervalue 
the blefllngs of that Conftitution and that union, 
or to deprecate either their worth or their obliga- 
tion, for they reft upon the faith of our fathers' 
pledge, and, as we revere our fathers' memory, 
we fliall keep that pledge inviolate. 

The battle of Lake Erie was fought and won 
by Rhode Ifland men, and, though it is nearly 
half a century flnce that determined band, which 
fome of you remember, left this, their ifland 



THE CELEBRATION. l^^ 

home, to engage in that ftrife, God, in his mercy, 
has fpared a remnant of thofe who participated 
in the dangers of that great conflict, and of the 
glories of that victory, yet to be with us. 

The hiftory of Rhode Ifland, written in the 
fpirit of philofophy, would prefent a record 
worthy, and more than worthy, of the palmieft 
days of the moft renowned State of antiquity. 
The principles of its founders are at the root, 
and pervade every part of the government of the 
United States. All the States of the Old World 
have felt their influence, and moft of them have 
yielded fomething to their demands; and the 
hopeful ftatefman fanguinely looks forward to 
fome future period of the hiftory of the world, 
when their application fliall have become uni- 
verfal 

Eighth regular toaft. 

The former Members of the Newport Bar. — Eminent for 
their talents and legal acquirements, habitually attentive and 
polite in all their profeffional relations, they won what they 
well deferved, the refpeft and eileem of all who knew them. 

Refponded to with great fpirit by C. C. Van 

Zandt, Efq. 



136 THE RE-UNION. 

Music : — " Wood Up," by Providence Brafs 
Band. 

Ninth regular toaft. 

Our diftinguijhed Sons of the Jrmy a?id Navy. — The 
record of their valor adds imperifhable luftre to our hiilory. 

This called out Col. Magruder, of the army, 
and at prefent in command at Fort Adams, 
whofe remarks were received with great ap- 
plaufe. 

Tenth regular toaft. 

The for?ner Schoolmajiers of Newport, — Men eminently 
qualified for and devoted to the duties of their profeflion ; we, 
their pupils, are largely indebted to their labors for any fuccefs 
that has attended our own. 

William L. Dennis, Efq., of Philadelphia, 
faid it afforded him great pleafure to refpond to 
the fentiment that paid a merited compliment 
to the former fchool teachers of Newport. They 
were citizen teachers of focial pofition and moral 
worth, who entered upon their duties for no 
brief period, but for life, and they were fur- 
rounded by the fons and daughters of their 
perfonal friends and neighbors, fent to them to 



THE CELEBRATION. 



.»37 



be educated for life's varied and fevere labors. 
Eminently qualified for their work, bleffed with 
good common fenfe, clofe obfervers of men and 
manners, and, above all, wholly devoted to their 
profeffional engagements, they rarely failed to 
fit their pupils for a fuccefsful bulinefs career. 
It would be extremely interefting, if it were pofli- 
ble, to fpread out in detail the refult of their 
labors; but this cannot be done. We know, 
however, that the comparatively fecluded pri- 
vate fchools of Newport fent out fcores of men 
who have filled, and are now filling, places of 
higheft truft and dilHnftion in the religious, lit- 
erary, fcientific and commercial world. 

It was no uncommon thing for us (I prefume 
I fpeak the fentiment of all my fchoolmates) to 
complain a little of the difciplinary meafures 
ufed to quicken our memories. All of us will 
probably agree, that feruling was brought to its 
higheft rtate of perfedion during our pupilage ; 
(I very well recoiled my firft introdudion to the 
old ebony ruler, and my clear convidion that it 
was equal in power to three galvanic batteries 
and an eledric eel ;) and yet there is not one of 
us in the maturity of our manhood, who ques- 
tions for a moment the necefTity of the apphca- 

12* 



138 



THE RE-UNION. 



tion, or its ultimate benefit in fecuring better 
order, and intenfer ftudy. The Ichools of our 
boyhood were fchools of extraordinary worth; 
the years we fpent in ftudying Daboll's Arith- 
metic, Webfter's Spelling Book, and Murray's 
Grammar, were well-fpent years. Our teachers 
were, in faithfulnefs and friendfliip, next to our 
parents, and, as fuch, are entitled to, and will 
ever receive, our mod: grateful recoUeflions. 
Mr. D. concluded by offering the following 
fentiment : 

Our Former School Teachers. — Levi, Eleazer, Daniel, and .1 
John; men of fcriptural names and fcriptural merit, for they \ 
did not fpare the rod and fpoil the child. 

Eleventh regular toaft : 

Our Old Pajtors . — Men of fmcere and unobtrufive piety, 
who devoted their Hves to the befh interelb of their fellow- 
men, and went to their graves ** hke fhocks of corn ready to 
be garnered." 

Replied to in the moft tender manner by Rev. 
James McKenzie. 

Twelfth regular toaft : 

Our Old Dolors. — We are the living monuments of their 
Efculapian Ikill, and while we gratefully cherifh the memory 



THE CELEBRATION. 



139 



of a Center, a Turner, and a Waring, wc Hazard nothing 
in faying that their Kingly treatment was fufficient for every 
Cafe. 

Dr. Usher Parsons, of Providence, replied 
to this fentiment as follows: 

Sons and Daughters of Rhode JJland: — We have 
liftened with admiration to the eloquent remarks 
that have fallen from the gentlemen who have 
fpoken, and I am highly gratified by the friendly 
alluhon to the medical profeffion of Rhode 
Ifland. I willi that a more competent fpeaker 
had been called upon to refpond to the fenti- 
ment, becaufe I am fure that, if properly treated, 
the medical profeffion of Rhode Ifland, of early 
times, would make a briUiant page in its hiftory. 

Who was the pioneer and founder of New- 
port ? It was John Clarke, a phyfician ; and it 
w^as the fame Dr. Clarke who united with Roger 
Williams in obtaining from Charles II. a Charter 
that conferred greater civil and religious privi- 
leges than had been granted to any other pro- 
vince, and which continued in force until the 
adoption of the prefent Conftitution, in 1842. 
It was he, too, who gathered the Firft Baptift 
Church, and ferved as a religious teacher until 



140 THE RE-UNION. 

his death, meanwhile practiiing medicine, and 
thus miniftering to the wants of both foul and 
body. He died in 1676, at the age of 68. 

In 1641, a Dr. Jeffries commenced pradice, 
and was followed by Doctors Cranfton, the three 
Rodmans, Ayrault, Vigneron, and Robinfon. 
Dr. Vigneron came from France about 1690, and 
died 1764, at the age of 9 J years. He was 
highly educated and a popular practitioner. It 
gives me pleafure to pay this tribute of refped 
to his memory, in the prefence of many of his 
defcendants now prefent. The name is believed 
to be extinct. Very recently, however, a gallant 
naval officer of this city, who fought by the fide 
of Perry, in the Lawrence, on Lake Erie, named 
William Vigneron Taylor, was a lineal defcendant 
of the doctor. Dr. Vigneron's fon fucceeded to 
his practice, and the fon and grandfon extended 
their profeffional career to nearly a century. 

There was a cotemporary of Vigneron, a Dr. 
John Brett, from Germany, a man of good learn- 
ing, and a particular friend and affociate of Red- 
wood, and who affifted him in eftablilliing the 
Library, which flieds fuch luibe on the fame of 
its founders, and whofe recent additions and 
decorations render it one of the moil beautiful 



THE CELEBRATION. I4I 

and attradive inftitutlons of its kind in the whole 
country. All honor is due to the enlightened 
public fpirit and refined tafte of the prefent 
citizens of Newport, for the renovation of this 
beautiful inftitution. 

About the year 1750, quite a number of very 
eminent phylicians arrived at Newport, w^ho, 
with Brett and Vigneron, made the medical tal- 
ents of the ifland, equal, if not fuperior, to thofe 
of any place in America. There were Doctors 
William Hunter and Thomas Moffatt, from the 
famous Univerfity of Edinburgh, and foon after 
came DoSors Haliburton and Oliphant. Dr. 
Hunter gave the firft courfe of medical ledures 
ever delivered in America. 

Yes, Rhode Iflanders, to Newport is conceded 
the honor of inaugurating medical inftruclions 
by ledures. They were given by William 
Hunter, in 1754-5 and 1756, and they drew 
many pupils from Maffachufetts. Dr. Hunter 
marched to Canada with the provincial troops, 
as furgeon in the French War. He had the 
largell: medical library in New England, a por- 
tion of which was given by his fbn, the late 
Hon. William Hunter, to Brown Univerlity. 
Dr. Hunter died in 1777, aged 48 years. 



142 THE RE-UNION. 

Dr. Thomas Moffatt was belt known by his 
Tory principles, and his endeavors to enforce the 
Stamp Ad, which incenfed the pubHc mind to a 
degree that caufed the facking of his houfe and 
deftruction of its contents. He erred in judg- 
ment, in iiding with the Crov/n, but his medical 
talents were of a very high order. Dr. Hali burton 
was highly educated and a popular praflitioner, 
but was ftrongly tindured with Toryifm. Soon 
after the Britilli fleet left Newport, it was afcer- 
tained that he had held a fecret correfpondence 
with its officers, and this made it advifable to 
leave for Halifax, where his defcendants were of 
the firft refpeQabiHty. Judge Brenton Halibur- 
ton, fon of the dodor, born in Newport, was 
many years Chief Juftice of the Province, and 
has this year received the honor of knighthood 
at the age of 83. Dr. Oliphant was in extenfive 
pradice, and much refpeded. His defcendants 
maintain a high focial pofition in New York. 

Dr. Ifaac Senter, a native of New Hampiliire, 
was a pupil of Dr. Moffatt, but diametrically 
oppofed to him in politics. Fired with zeal in 
the caufe of liberty, he, after the battle of Bun- 
ker Hill, m.arched to Bolton as a volunteer, and 
was foon after appointed a furgeon in the army, 



THE CELEBRATION. 



H3 



and marched with General Arnold to Quebec, 
enduring incredible hardfliips. After the war 
he fettled in Newport, where, from the death of 
the diftinguiflied worthies we have named, he 
took a very exalted pofition as phylician and 
furgeon, and maintained it until his death, which 
occurred in 1799, at the age of 46; though 
wanting in the advantages of European inftruc- 
tion he made his name and fame known as a 
writer abroad, and he was elected as a fellow of 
feveral medical focieties. He educated many 
pupils, among whom were Drs. Danforth, the 
medical Hercules of Bofton, and Dr. Water- 
houfe, the accompliflied botanift, profeffor, and 
writer, and who introduced vaccination into 
America, performing the firit operation on his 
own children. Drs. Danforth and Waterhoufe 
attained to the age of more than 90 years. 

Cotemporary with Dr. Senter was Dr. Jona- 
than Eafton, whofe tall and dignified figure in a 
Quaker garb, I remember to have feen nearly 
half a century ago in Newport. 

Dr. Benjamin Mafon, father of the late Mrs. 
Com. Perry, fludied medicine in Europe, and 
was highly refpeded in his profellion. 



144 



THE RE-UNION. 



At the beginning of the prefent century, a 
new fet of phyficians mounted the ftage of pro- 
feffional life, and praclifed many years. 

Drs. William Turner, David King, Edmund 
T. Waring, Benjamin W. Cafe, and Enoch 
Hazard, were well known to many who hear 
me, which renders it unneceffary t6 fay more of 
them than that they were highly efteemed where 
ever known, and were active, faithful, intelligent 
and fuccefsful. Thefe two have paffed away, 
and, having ferved their day and generation 
faithfully, have gone to their reward. A new 
fet of practitioners now fill their places. Far dis- 
tant be the day when a future biographer fliall 
be called upon to notice their obituaries, and 
portray their merits. 

You have every reafon to be proud. Sons and 
Daughters of Rhode Ifland, of your medical 
anceitry. I give, as a fentiment : 

The memory of diftinguiflied phyficians of Rhode Ifland, 
who have well played their part in the drama of profeiTional 
hfe. 

Thirteenth regular toaft : 

The Ladies. — Newport, in days lang fyne, celebrated for 
the beauty and accomplifhment of her daughters, will fuftain 
at the prefent day her ancient reputation. 



THE CELEBRATION. 



H5 



When this was announced, the Mayor rofe 
and faid : 

The Ladies. — They always fpeak for thcmfelves. God 
blefs them ! 

When the regular toafts had been read and 
refponded to, the Preiident called upon Ex- 
Mayor Cozzens, who fpoke as follows : 

Sons^ and Daughters., and Fellow-Citizens of New- 
port: 

It is a gratifying light to look over this vail: 
affembly, and fee fo many hundreds of the 
natives of this lovely ille returned to their early 
homes, to hold communion and re-union with 
their fathers and their fathers' friends. The 
crowd before me to-day fliows how many go 
abroad to how few remain at home. As one 
who has flayed behind, and occupied one fpot 
for thirty odd years, I am known, no doubt, to 
many of you; but change, that immutable law 
of nature, has wrought fo much in our prefent 
condition, that wc are almoft ftrangers. ^ 

The failiion of the times with gentlemen, to 
neglect the fcraping duties of the toilet, fo dis- 
13 



146 THE RE-UNION. 

figures man, that, in many cafes, hardly a fem- 
blance of a Kkenefs to a venerated and honored 
anceftry can be found, until a formal introduc- 
tion has been made. This has puzzled many of 
us thefe laft few days, and many a near relative 
could hardly recognize the face of a returned fon 
or friend. 

Different is it, in fome degree, with our old 
Newport. She has fcraped her face, and 
renewed many a front of her old buildings, and 
no doubt, to many of you, long abfent, (lie pre- 
fents a decided change. My eye refts on many 
who can recoiled, with me, Newport twenty-five, 
thirty, aye, forty years ago. I fee one now, 
whole firil vifit home, after an abfence of nearly 
forty years, (when I was a boy,) who nettled me 
exceedingly at his (as I then thought) ridicule 
of our fleepy condition. I well remember his 
faying that the only found like that of a hammer 
he had heard, after feveral days fpent here, was 
that of a butcher's cleaver in the old Red Mar- 
ket, chopping a mutton bone, and that, in the 
ftillness of the place, he heard at a diftance of 
feveral hundred yards from the fpot. That, and 
the report of a tremendous y??^'^'-^ from one of our 
old (liopkeepers, (always noted for the powers 



THE CELEBRATION. l/^.J 

of his nafal organ,) were the only founds that 
met his ear during his viiit. This was Newport 
dead indeed. Many of you can reahze it, and 
have no doubt come back to look for the old. 
Nowhere has more old been preserved ; yet, 
while you look for the venerated old, you will 
not negled to witnefs the new. Wherever you 
look abroad, over our city extended, fee the 
widened avenue, the new ftreets, the long line 
of new and elegant manfions which have rifen 
up ; fee, of a pleafant afternoon, the many hun- 
dred fplendid carriages which roll by as you 
ftand at a given point, then go back v/ith me to 
the time when poor old Sammy Place drove the 
only two-horfe public carriage in town, and that 
not half fuftained I 

But, I hear you aik, is all this real ? Or do 
we read and hear that all this great difplay is but 
for a fliort feason ? Alas, too true I You have 
come at a feafon when our honored home puts 
on her beautiful attire, — when in life and in 
earneft. Would that it were otherwife ; that it 
would be perpetual ; that I could fay to you, we 
are extending our commerce, our manufaSures, 
our general bulinefs, our railroad to connect us with 
the reft of mankind. Thefe may come, muft 



148 THE RE-UNION. 

come — but when ? Not fo long as all our Sons 
go forth to build up other cities, and while fo 
many of us who remain hve on doubts and mis- 
givings. 

I have not ventured to go beyond the limits 
of my own memory, for tradition has long fince 
eftabliflied what Newport was a hundred years 
ago. Could we but' eradicate the doubting, 
defpairing character of our people, created by 
wars, and the fears of wars, from 1776 to 1820, 
WT might ftill rife and attain that pofition which 
our natural advantages had given us. But New- 
port is gradually improving, and file now num- 
bers many adopted Sons, — men who, becoming 
tired of the toils, cares, and dangers of a city 
life, have made this Garden of Eden their home ; 
and may we not hope that fome of you, the 
honored Sons and Daughters of Newport, will 
find in this Re-union a rekindhng of your early 
attachments, and a defire to return, and help 
to fwell the number of our increaling popu- 
lation. 

His Honor, Mayor Cranston, now called on 
the Delegates from the feveral States and Terri- 
tories, appointed to addrefs the meeting, defig- 



THE CELEBRATION. 



149 



nating Kanfas firft, and in her behalf Benjamin 
C. Card, Efq., fpoke as follows : 

I thank you, Mr. Prefident, for remembering 
our diftant Territory on this occafion ; and I only 
regret that fome abler reprefentative could not 
be here to refpond for Kanfas ; but you will ex- 
cufe your Committee for defignating me for the 
duty, when you know that they could do noth- 
ing elfe — it was a choice (perhaps not a happy 
one) between me and nobody — for I am the only 
returned Son from that remote Territory, and I 
could hear of no other to return with me. But 
I truft that, before the next gathering of your 
fcattered ones, our Territory (liall have received 
fuch an infulion of Rhode Ifland element as will 
make it a fecond home for us. If Rhode Ifland 
is a good place to go from, Kanfas is a good place 
to go to. It is not the traditional " Bleeding 
Kanfas " of a few years ago — the Kanfas held up 
as uncomfortably as Mahomet's coffin, between 
the North and the South, and receiving from 
each more kicks than pennies ; but the prefent 
thriving, peaceful, and quiet Kanfas, that invites 
earned labor to her broad prairies, whofe foil 
13* 



150 THE RE-UNION. 

waits but to be tickled with the plough and it 
laughs with a bountiful crop. 

Or, if you like not to remain in the plain, go 
up into the mountain, and try your luck among 
the auriferous peaks and gulches. Is there gold 
there ? That Newport curiofity w6iuld foon 
find out — Newport energy develope, and New- 
port acquifitivenefs appropriate. I fpeak as one | 
of you. 

Kanfas, too, has her towns and villages; they 
are all young, and fome are vigorous and flour- 
idling, while others are finiilied, and would be 
fenced, if we could fpare the lumber. We boaft 
of one town, only four years old, with a popula- | 
^•on of 13,000, and fteadily increaling. We 
have our churches and fchooihoufes, and men 
and children attend them. We have great 
rivers, and great fteamers employed on them; 
we have broad fields of fuperior land, and we 
want thoufands to till them. We will foon have 
railroads crofling thofe fields, and reaching to 
thofe rivers. We have commenced talking 2ihout 
building them already, and you, perhaps, can 
tell me how Ipeedily railways are hniflied after 
they are talked of, and how little there is to do 
on them that fpeeches will not pay for. 



THE CELEBRATION. 



15' 



Kanfas will foon be praying for admittance 
into the Union as a State. She has paffed 
through troublous times to reach the polition, 
and I ask for her that you fliall receive as kindly, 
and welcome as warmly, this young S^'Jkr into 
the Ujiiojz^ as you have to-day your Sons and 
Daughters to the Re-union. 

At the conclulion of Mr. Card's Addrefs, a 
gentleman, a returned Son, gave the following 
toaft : 

Kanfas. — Her only Card is a trump. 

The Delegate from Providence was now called 
upon by the Mayor, and Hon. William S. 
Patten, of that city, fpoke as follows : 

The Providence members of the Newport 
family, in joyful refponfe to the maternal invita- 
tion, have come to fpend a day with our brothers 
and filters at the old homeftead. After fepara- 
tions, fome longer, fome fliorter; after experi- 
ences, oh ! how chequered with joy and with 
fadnefs to each of us, we com.e to join the family 
gathering in the home where we were born. 
This lliould be, it is, a happy meeting ; yet has 



152 THE RE-UNION. 

it elements of fadnefs ; and the heart is untrue 
to its beft emotions which does not feel and con- 
fefs them. 

Thofe of us who now return find the froft of 
years, the fnows of winter, upon many a brow 
on which we left the bloom of youth and the 
fummer of manhood. 

We mifs, too, alas that it is so, many a loved, 
many " an accuftomed face," and " it is little joy 
to know " that they have left this good home 
forever ; but there is confolation in our trust, that 
they have been removed to that better, where 
we all hope to be reunited. 

To thofe of you, Brothers and Sifters, who have 
always lived at home, many of us feem hke 
fpirits of the departed, revifiting the fcenes in 
which we and you once lived together. 

The young wife of Old Robin Gray was not 
more surprifed by the reappearance of her former 
lover, when (lie fupposed 

" It was her Jamie's wraith, for fhe 
Could na' think 'twas he," 

than the changed appearances of fome of us have 
furprifed you. 



THE CELEBRATION. ItO 

That old Caledonian incident is being repro- 
duced before your eyes, with new Yankee illus- 
trations ; for as many ghofts as have been feen 
in the ftreets of Newport to-day, and can be as 
well authenticated to all coming generations, as 
are defcribed in Mather's Magnalia. 

Many a happy year may it be before any of 
us are laid. 

This, we have faid, is a happy meeting. 
Never before have we come together as a fam- 
ily. Never before, as brothers and fifters, has 
our mother, Newport, gathered her children 
together, as a hen gathereth her chickens — under 
her wings; and truly, are we not a pleafant 
fight? Glad are we to fee each other—proud, 
happy and grateful are we in our relationfliip. 
Grateful and happy we feel that we are — and a 
juft pride we know we are entitled to for a long 
line of illuftrious anceftors ; godly and gifted 
divines; eloquent patriots and ftatefmen; learned 
jurifts; celebrated phyficians, poets, painters; 
brave and magnanimous naval commanders and 
military ; merchants, enterprifing and fuccefsful ; 
artifans, intelligent and Ikillful— among her men 
— dignity, accomplifliments, refplendent beauty ; 
every grace that adorns, and every virtue that 



154 "^^^ RE-UNION. 

ennobles woman, that " laft, bed gift of God to 
man " — belong to Newport — and illuminate 
every page of Rhode Illand hiftory with a bril- 
liancy which far fparkles over an almoil bound- 
lefs horizon. 

Such is our family, — here was our birthplace, 
and here are we met, around our family board, 
contemplating our paft, enjoying our prefent, and 
gathering a (lore of pleafant memories, kind 
feelings, and cheering hopes for our future. 
Thus reprefenting, (on his native ground,) the 
fcene your magic painter has fo exquilitely ideal- 
ized in " The Hours ; " the pail:, the prefent, and 
the future. 

So much, Brothers and Sifters, for ourfelves. 
Now, juft a word or two for our mother. 

Till to-day, it is long iince fome of us have 
feen her loved and beautiful face. Many of us 
feldom do or can fee it ; for the hard neceflities 
of hfe, its engroffing cares, or exading duties, 
have made us exiles, but have never eftranged 
our affedions from this, the maternal abode. 

The voice of the murmur of the diftant beach, 
(its greeting now on the ear,) was as our cradle 
hymn. The light of fwelling ocean, the view 
of undulating landfcape, verdant and broad- 



THE CELEBRATION. 



^5S 



fpreading in peaceful beauty, smiling in the face 
of a loving Iky ; thefe are the features of our 
mother, impreiTed by her on the hearts and 
memories of all her infant children, inefFaceably 
and indeftru&ible. 

On us flie turns them now, in unfaded youth 
and lovelinefs, for, 



And her maternal touch ! How it rellores our 
ftrength, prollrated in the conflict with giant years 
and toils ; revives our wilted fpirits ; renews our 
youth of foul, and we lliall return to the conteft 
invigorated with frefli confidence in viftory, and 
with a cheerful courage. 

Such, Brethren and Sifters, is our mother to us, 
and on her ifland home, as once defcribed with 
enthuiiaftic truth, 

** A beautiful gem on the bofom of the ocean." 

May we be worthy of her; that, when flie 
would make her claim of chiefeft honor, ilie 
fliall point to her children, and fay, with exultant 
joy, " Thefe are my jewels." 

At this point, the ceremonies were interrupted 



1^6 THE RE-UNION 

by the appearance, in the neighborhood, of the 
Antiques and Horribles, and all appeared anxious 
to witnefs a proceffion fo novel ; it was decided 
to adjourn the meeting till evening, at which 
time it was announced the AddreiTes of the 
Delegates would be continued. In a few mo- 
ments the Tent was entirely cleared, and the thou- 
fands who had been filently liftening to the 
remarks of their friends, were now convulfed 
with laughter at the fpeSacle before them. The 
Antiques and Horribles were under the com- 
mand of the gallant Captain Lollypop, and as it 
was one of the attraftive features of the day, it 
is deferving of fome fpecial notice here. 

THE ANTIQUES AND HORPvIBLES. 

This unique corps was compofed, on the 
occafion, of the " Punkinvil Rangers," of this 
city, and the " Block Ifland Guards," of Prov- 
idence, and never was there any thing in the 
way of burlel'que more fuccefsful than their 
appearance. All their movements were con- 
ducted in the moft ludicrous manner. The 
faihionable belle, with hoops of the moft extrav- 
agant dimeniions, was perfonified by one whofe 



THE CELEBRATION. 



157 



face had been well blackened with burnt cork. 
Her gait was unexceptionable, and (lie (liowed 
the mod: tender follcitude for the fafety of her 
pet cur. Her rival was mounted on — fliall we 
fay the frame of a horse ? Certainly it was 
nothing but ikin and bones. But this defect 
was rendered lefs confpicuous by the fize of her 
(kirts, which completely covered all but the ani- 
mal's head and feet. The band was compofed 
of ghartly performers. Drawing anything but 
dulcet founds from the molt outlandilli inftru- 
ments. Brother Jonathan was there, in all his 
glory. A vidim of Lynch law was riding on a 
rail, borne aloft in a cart, his body, from the 
crown of his head to the fole of his foot, reek- 
ing with tar and feathers. A printer appeared, 
dreffed entirely in newfpapers. Jugglers and 
clowns jingled their bells and cut many pranks. 
An old woman carried in a baiket, on her (lioul- 
ders, the living head of a man, which bowed and 
fmiled to the crowd of wondering eyes bent on 
difcovering the deception, and his Satanic majefty 
was feen here, and there, and everywhere. 

It would be impoiTible for us now to give 
anything like a full defcription of this motley 
procefTion, or of the crazy old vehicles in which 
H 



Ij8 THE RE-UNION. 

many of the figures were drawn by horfes that 
were Hterally nothing but Ik in and bones. At 
the Ocean Houl'e, the hilarity of the guefts, who 
had just left the dining room, and were prom- 
enading in the balcony, knew no bounds, at a 
fight fo novel, and fo unexpeded. There was 
bowing and fcraping on the part of the " Pun- 
kinvilites," and burfts of applaufe from the 
reviewers, who declared this feature to be no 
fmall part of the day's entertainment. 



( i?9 ) 



CHAPTER VIII, 

PRESENTATION OF BANNER. 

After the ceremonies at the Tent, in the after- 
noon of the 23d, the Artillery Company, as it 
left the field, was drawn into line, fouth of the 
Ocean Houfe, and Ex-Mayor Rodman, of Provi- 
dence, prefented to the Company a beautiful 
Banner, accompanied with the following unique 
Addrefs : 

Mr. Commandant : — An unexpeded, yet very 
pleafant duty, has been impofed upon me, Sir, 
by my alTociates from the City of Providence; 
and I approach its performance mofl: cheerfully, 
although wholly unprepared with itudied and 
fitting words. It is the habit of the human 
mind to love that which is memorial in its char- 
acter, and to perpetuate the recoUedions of pleas- 
ant events by tangible records. We fee this in 
youth. In life's early morn, he fees the Temple 
of Fame riling in beauty and grandeur before 
him, and his foul prompts the defire to leave 



l6o THE RE-UNION. 

fome little memorial upon its enduring tablets, 
to tell to thofe who fucceed him in the march of 
human life, that he has preceded them in the 
combat. 

We, Sir, (landing here upon the emerald car- 
pet of our beautiful ifland, feel anxious to leave 
behind us a memorial of the unclouded pleafures 
of this feftal day, and to place in your hands, 
and the hands of your command this, our Banner, 
as a teftimonial of our appreciation and gratitude 
for our generous welcome, by our fellow-citizens, 
and as an expreflion of our high regard for the 
old and honored Artillery Company of' New- 
port. 

This little flag is 2.fac~fimik of the one borne 
by General Nathaniel Greene, during his heroic 
wanderings through the Revolutionary druggie ; 
and may the fpirit which infpired him ever 
aSuate us all as foldiers and as men. Obedient 
to the patriotic impulfes, he armed himfelf for 
combat, and when 

*' that Quaker brave 

His anvil unto freedom gave. 
And made that anvil loudly ring. 
With giant blows and ftalwart fwing. 



PRESENTATION OF BANNER. l6l 

And every time he ftruck his forge. 
Vowed vengeance to the tyrant George ; 
What did his patriot mother fay 
When from his home he turned away ? 
Nat, if thou tak'it the battle's track. 
Let not a Ihot affail thy back ! " 

Her fpirit, Brothers, Quaker as llie was, was 
the true Ipirit of lofty valor; and fliould the 
clarion blaft of war again peal along our borders, 
may you and I, as foldiers and as men, rememiber 
that her's was the true watchword, that the true 
patriot only kneels to God, and always faces his 
foe. 

Take this Banner, Colonel Turner, as our 
memorial offering, to commemorate this aufpi- 
cious day, and while it fliall awaken pleafant 
remembrances of the pad, may it ferve to keep 
our hearts forever green. 

The Color-Sergeant then took charge of the 
flag, and Colonel Turner refponded as follows: 

Mr. Rodman, ajid Gentlemen of the Frcvidence 
Delegation of the Sons of Nezcport: — I have the 
pleafure of accepting, in the name and behalf of 
I4* 



l62 THE RE-UNION. 

the Artillery Company, the White Flag which' 
you have fo kindly prefented us. 

It is particularly pleafant to us that, among 
the different organizations of this city, with 
which you have feverally been conneded, this 
old Corps lliould have been feleSed as the recipi- 
ent of the liberality and friendfliip of fuch a body 
of Returned Sons. 

Allow me to affure you this pure White Flag 
{hall ever remain uniullied. 



( 163) 



CHAPTER IX. 

EVENING FESTIVITIES. 

At 8 o'clock, the Tent was brilliantly illumin- 
ated with gas, (the gas having been introduced 
efpecially for the occafion, from the main pipe 
on South Touro Street,) and Chinefe lanterns. 
Soon after the opening, the entire fpace within 
the immenfe canvafs was filled to its utmod 
capacity — the number prefent being eftimated 
at not lefs than fix tlioufand. 

At half-paft 8, His Honor the Mayor opened 
the evening exercifes, and thereupon introduced 
the Rev. Charles T. Brooks, who was received 
with great applaufe, and, at once, read the fol- 
lowing poem, which was liftened to with the 
moft profound attention and intereft by the vaft 
multitude prefent : 

RHODE ISLAND'S WELCOME TO HER CHILDREN. 

BY REV. C. T. BROOKS. 

A voice from old Newport, — a welcoming call 
To her wide-fcattered children and grandchildren all ; 
Come, wanderers, come home to your beautiful ifle. 
To the feet of your mother — the light of her fmile ! 



164 • THE RE-UNION. 

In her mantle of green and her tiar of blue. 
She long has been fitting and waiting for you ; 
The arms of her bays, lo ! flie flretchcs out wide. 
To waft you all in at the turn of the tide. 

Her foam- whitened headlands run out on the deep. 
As eager the circling horizon to fwccp ; 
The tongues of her far-flretching green flopcs explore. 
Like feelers, each white fpcck on ocean's broad fioor. 

She fends up her hill-tops, that they, too, may fpy 
Where, haply, fome band of her truants draws nigh ; 
Old Tammany, Honeyman, Paradife, ftand 
Looking willfully our o'er the fea and the land. 

In their duiky night-mantles they wait there to greet 

The coming at dawn of the beautiful feet, — 

And a thrill of expeftancy runs through the hoft 

Of the night-waves that fleeplefsly moan round the coaft. 

On the wings of the morning ye come as a cloud. 
Like doves to the windows ye eagerly crowd : 
Methinks the old windmills, with clatter and clack. 
Fling their white arms to welcome the wanderers back. 

The tie of your home was elaftic but firong ; 

Though wide were your wanderings, — your abfcnce 

though long, — 
Your old mother's apron- ft rings ftill held you faft. 
They ftretched, but they 've fhrunk, — you are here now at 

laft. 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 1 65 

As the fea-bird wheels home to her rock-begirt neft. 

Ye come by your old ocean-cradle to reft ; 

To fit at the feet of your mother awhile. 

And gladden your hearts with her fong and her fmile. 

In the murmuring mufic that fteals on your ear. 
The ftrain, fweet and plaintive of memory you hear; 
Your mother's old lullaby fwells from the deep. 
With which, in your childhood, fhe fang you to fleep. 

Say, home gathered exiles, and feel ye not now 
That mother's mild breathing float over your brow. 
As it cheered you fo often in morningtide's flulh. 
As it foothed you fo often at eventide's hufh? 

Draw clofe to your mother, and look in her face, — 
No fign of eftrangement or coldnefs you '11 trace ; 
Come, fit in her lap vC'ithout fcruple or fhame, — 
Old or young, you are all boys and girls, juft the fame. 

Some changes you'll note in the good lady's drefs. 
But file wears her old countenance, nevcrthelefs ; 
On her youthful old brow not a wrinkle is feen, 
Unfaded her apron of emerald green. 

Some modern adornments you'll find here and there, 
A sprig or a gem in the old lady's hair; 
Some quaintly carved cameo, perchance, on her breaft. 
Or ftones of rare cofthnefs dotting her veft. 



l66 THE RE-UNION. 

Look out on the Neck, once fo bare and To free. 
The neck of your mother, the bride of the fea. 
Where erft (her fole fcarf) his white fpray cloud he flung, 
And the oHve-brown beads of his ribbon-weed flung ; 

The fl:ranger has laviflied his wealth and his art. 
To the matron's plain beauty new charms to impart ; 

With pofies and pearls fo bedizened and gay. 

You well might fcarce know your old parent to-day. 

Yet what are all thefe to the noble old dame ? 
Defpite all thefe charges, her heart is the fame — 
Her heart is the fame, and the fame it will be. 
Like the air and the fky, and the rock and the fea. 

Let them deck and improve her as much as they will. 

Her look wears its true old ferenity Hill ; 
Her blue eye beamed never more brightly than now. 
The radiance of Heaven is undimmed on her brow. 

She looks on her fides and flie looks on her feas. 
And flie fays to proud worldlings. My glories are thefe ! 
She points to the children her fond arms enfold, 
And flie says, (the true mother ! ) My Jewels behold ! 

Then cling round your mother — drink in the loved tones. 
Not one of you all flie forgets or difowns, — 
Not you, ye old men, who could fcarcely retrace 
Through the dim glafs of memory, a line of her face. 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. l67 

Ye left her in childhood, — ye fee her again 

Through the mift-obfcured vifta of three-fcore and ten. 

Yet fhe had not ceafed to remember, if you 

Had forgotten the mother whofe look ye fcarce knew. 

To all of her children, — to old and to young — 
Her greeting is fpoken, — her welcome is fung. 
The fea, as it murmurs, and kifles your feet. 
The fky, as it fparkles, her welcome repeat. 

From Coddington's cove, far acrofs and around. 
To the Flints of old Sachueft echoes the found ; 
It ripples and gurgles and fwells in the waves. 
On fandy-floored beaches, in pebbly-floored caves. 

Old Spouting Rock, eager the gladnefs to Ihare, 
A fefcive white spray- wreath flings high in the air; 
And the fpirits imprifon'd below in his den. 
Growl back a gruff greeting in thunder again. 

And a genuine old fog, (one of Newport's true fons,) 
Roufed up by the noife of the bells and the guns, 
At day-break comes out a fpeftator to be, 
Though where he is, none elfe can be feen or can fee. 

But not thefe wild children of Nature alone 
Are glad, and exult their old playmates to own ; 
In the heart of the town, in the fquare and the ftreet. 
Old houfes are nodding old inmates to greet. 



l68 THE RE-UNION. 

Dear old time-colored houfes ! they Teem (and well may,) 
To hold their heads higher than ever to-day ; 
For though they had two or three ftories before. 
To-day they have certainly one Jtory more. 

As ye faunter along by the (hops of old Thames, 
Some wearing new faces, yet keeping old names. 
In letters time-darkened or touched with new gold, 
Unmiftakable figns of your welcome behold ! 

As ye pioufly turn toward the head of the town. 
Curt chronicler ftill of her ancient renown. 
Though fhattered by Time, the old markfman, you fee. 
Bare, blafled, yet, upright, the Liberty Tree. 

As the hero rtill fcands to his poll on the deck. 
When the balls of the foemen have left him a wreck. 
And the flag's tattered remnants are fliot from the mail, 
" Don't give up the fliip ! " is his cry to the lall. 

Come to the Hill-top ; there, waiting for you. 
With flightly changed collume, ftill modeft and true. 
Friend Redwood looks forth with the forehead he wore. 
Calm, claflic, majeftic and penfive of yore. 

Fair feat of the Mufcs ! of Memory the Shrine \ 
All hail ! the bright dawn of a new day is thine ! 
What ftrange alterations of lot thou haft feen. 
Since thy columns firft rofe on thii hill-top of green ! 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. i6Q 

No longer Minerva, as once, with affright. 

At the tramp of rude Mars, from her temple takes flight. 

No more it refounds with the hideous noife. 

The clamor and clangor of bats and of boys. 

The cobwebs and duft of negledl fhall no more 

Hang over thy fhelves as they gathered of yore ; 

No more fliall their mute, honored occupants lie 

In the night dews, unmarked fave by Nature's moift eye. 

New times are upon us, old friend, and thou, too. 
Henceforth, hke the eagle's, thy youth flialt renew. 
No more here, the bat or the owl, Ihall hold fway. 
All hail to the dawn of thy new rifmg day ! 

But now, as you turn round the corner hard by, 
A veteran, older by far, meets your eye ; 
The mute, but impreffive and thought-ftirring word. 
Of the oldefl inhabitant waits to be heard. 

For fee, there where filcnt and florm-proof it ftands. 
And calmly looks down on the waters and lands. 
The wonder and crown of the beautiful Hill, 
Myflerioufly fmilcs the majeftic Old Mill. 

Strange reHc of old, immemorial time ! 

Whofe fhadows float round thee in filence fublime, 

Stonehenge of old Newport ! within whofe charmed 

ground. 
The ghofts of the pall move myflerioufly round I 
15 



lyO THE RE-UNION. 

Thou wondrous old landmark ! when centuries roll by. 
And nought but the rocks and the Tea and the fky. 
Unchanged fhall be left of the darhng old town. 
When every old gable has long lince come down : 

To grandchildren's grandchildren ftill thou fhalt hold 
High talk of the times and the people of old : 
Shalt tell how their great, great grandfathers, when they 
Were children, came hither to wonder and play. 

And when, in fonrie moon-lighted midnight, the gholls 
Of them who once dwelt here, revifit thefe coafls. 
And through the changed ftreets feek in vain up and down. 
Some trace of their dear and familiar old town. 

As at laft to this Mount of Remembrance they bend 
Their fleps, to the great upper world to afcend. 
They'll cry, as their eyes meet the reverend Old Mill, 
" Here, here is old Newport, it lingers here flill ! " 

But, ye who return to your home here to-day. 

Thank Heaven, your old haunts have not vaniihed for aye ; 

Some crooked old lanes tell of hide and feek yet. 

Old gables tell tales that you cannot forget. 

Yes, children, (Ilill children — true hearts grow not old — ) 
Ye breathe the fame air, — the fame ikies ye behold. 
Where with fingers enraptured, your kites ye once flew, 
• And puffing and wondering, your foap-bubbles blew. 

Perchance the old homertead fhall greet you once more ; 
Perchance the old meadow has long been built o'er ; 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 



171 



But here is the clime and the foil and the place. 

Where ye flooped to play marbles — the whip-top to chafe. 

And there, fmooth and hard, lies the broad yellow fand. 
Where ye once wrote your names with a light heart and 

hand. 
(Some of you have written your names fmce that day 
In letters that fhall not fo foon pafs away !) 

For came there not then, from the furf-drum's deep tone, 
A voice that was heard by the fpirit alone ? 
The voice you ilill hear in the moan of the fea. 
That bids you be thoughtful, and reverent, and free ! 

My children — God's children — that voice feems to fay — 
Where are ye — whence come ye ? give anfwer to-day ! 
Howe'er o'er the wide world your footfteps might roam. 
Say, where have your thoughts — have your fouls — found 
their home? 

As ye enter Farewell Street, the mufmg heart burns 
To think of that bourne whence no traveller returns; 
What forms of the glorified rife on the foul. 
Who trod thefe fair fhores, while they fought the high 
goal ! 

At Beauty's, at Learning's, at Piety's fhrine 
Fair Liberty's priefthood, with undlion divine. 
The Poet, the Prophet, the Martyr they wrought 
Their work for the ages. Faith's conflidl they fought. 

And where are they now — are they gone ? they are here — 
The fpirit that quickened them ilill hovers near, — 



172 THE RE-UNION. 

Their memories, their names, ftill make fragrant the air. 
True hearts ! Ye this day their companionfhip fliare. 

As penfive, that crowded old grave-yard ye tread, 
A city to you of the living {jwt dead)^ 
Ye there hear a greeting more holy and true 
Than ou)' loudcfh welcomings offer to you. 

There, there is old Newport, fafe anchored at laft. 
Where partings are over, and changes are paft. 
And a voice from that hoft of tranflated ones cries : 
Be thoughtful and thankful — be holy and wife ! 

Aye, children of freemen who gather to-day. 

To your great common mother your tribute to pay. 

It is not the voice of a mother alone 

That fummons her Sons their allegiance to own; 

A mother's low whifper flea Is forth from the ground. 
But hark! in the wide realm of freedom around. 
In the deep under-tone the wrapt fpirit can hear. 
The Father of all — the Great Spirit is near. 

O, then, as ye breathe in this health-giving breeze. 
The breath of the boundlefs, untamable fcas — 
As ye tread with free jftep the elailic green turf. 
With fpirits that dance to the fong of the furf. 

Drink into your fouls, with a tranfport more rare. 
Deep draughts of that higher, that heavenly air. 
And nerve your frail faith, in Temptation's dread fhock, 
Unlhaken to fland on Eternity's rock ! 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 



173 



After muiic by the band, the Brooklyn (N. 
Y.) Delegation was called upon, when Walter 
Nichols, Efq, a returned Son, fpoke as follows : 

Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen of the Committee of 
Arrangements : 

It is one of the beneficent provifions of our 
nature, that the place of our nativity, as well as 
every local feature by which it has been diftin- 
guillied and adorned, is impreffed upon our 
memory, and retained by it through years of 
feparation, of trial and viciffitude, — and in the 
moft gloomy periods of our individual expe- 
rience they will rife again through clouds and 
furrounding darknefs as vifions of light, and 
infpire us with frefli hopes and renewed impulfe 
and increafed faith in the future. Of all places 
which have given birth to man, and thus become 
endeared in the hearts of thofe who were born 
in them, what place is there more worthy of 
being remembered, or which has more imperiili- 
able features by which to imprefs itfelf than this, 
which to-day we hail as our firll: home among 
men, and to which you now welcome us. Beau- 
tiful for lituation, unfurpaffed in natural fcenery, 



174 ^^^ RE-UNION. 

genial In its climate, it combines attraSions 
which have drawn from the moft diftant parts of 
our common country their richeft, their faireft 
and their moft diftinguiflied, until wealth, refine- 
ment and perfonal attradion and worth here hold 
their court and make their temporary home. 
And when we add to this its hiftory — contem- 
porary with the oldeft cities of our land, — which 
lliows it to have been a corporation endowed 
with municipal privileges and immunities, when 
moft of thofe which now outftrip it in the race 
for trade, population and commercial enterprife 
were in their primeval ftate, and had no corpo- 
rate exiftence, the record reveals it as a chofen 
refort for men of letters, where, in the refined 
and cultivated fociety which then diftinguiflied 
it, they could find fympathy, fellowflilp and in- 
tercourfe, fuch as was afforded by few places on 
the continent. To this city, then, in which it 
was the glory of our youth that we were born, 
and to which for many years we have been 
counted as ftrangers, — to this city, rich in its 
reminifcence and recolleftion, we have this day 
returned by your invitation, and forgetful for a 
feaion of other aflbciations, we accept your hos- 
pitality, and reciprocate the fraternal falutation 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 



175 



and claim it as our own. Moft of us have been 
abient many years, and we now come as pilgrims 
to worfliip at the (lirine of our fathers. Citizens 
of another State, and with the cares and refpon- 
fibilities of another community refting upon us, 
we come, and for a moment lay our cares, our 
pofitions and privileges at your feet. Waflied 
once more in the waters of the Atlantic as they 
break upon your fliore, it is to us a facramental 
rite, — partaking with you of the bread which 
here is broken and diftributed by your order, we 
renew the bond which before exifted between us, 
and feel that we are indeed Sons of Rhode Illand, 
and fellow heirs of this goodly heritage. 

It is a glorious privilege that, though we be removed. 
From fcenes familiar to our youth, and early friends beloved. 
We now and then may turn again and reft our weary feet. 
And mark each old familiar fpot whofe memory is fweet : 
No change in after life to thofe, who happily were placed. 
Obliterates the pleafant path their early feet have traced ; 
The ties which riper years have formed give place to thofe 

before. 
And fome memento viewed again, the wifdom will reftore. 

Let me, then, for myfelf and in behalf of 
thofe who are with me, and by whofe requeft I 
fpeak, thank you mod heartily for the welcome 



176 THE RE-UNION. 

which you have given ; let me reciprocate the 
kind and brotherly feeling v^hich you have ex- 
preffed, and affure you that while the impreffions 
which are this day renewed have been an impel- 
hng power in all our paft performance, and an 
infpiring caufe of our prefent fuccefs, the micm- 
ory of this day and occalion will mingle with 
thofe earlier recolledions, and nerve us to a 
greater effort, and a more ardent ftruggle, to dis- 
tinguifli ourfelves among the aflembled men of 
other cities. States and nationalities, and to fus- 
tain the reputation of the land of our nativity, 
which fliall henceforth fliare in the honor of our 
achievement. 

The New Bedford, Maflachufetts, Delegation 
was next called upon, Ex-Mayor Cozzens pre- 
fiding, when Robert C. Pitman, Efq., of that 
city, a returned Son, fpoke as follows : 

With diffidence, Mr. Mayor, fliould I refpond 
to your call on behalf of the New Bedford Chil- 
dren, were my only claim to be deemed a true 
Son of Newport bafed upon the blefled accident 
of my birth, and refidence for a few weeks of 
infancy upon this beautiful ifland. But, Sir, 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 



177 



when I call to mind that for generations running 
far back into the paft, my anceftors on both fides 
have lived in Newport, and now fleep in her 
quiet graveyards, I feel that the mother will 
not difown the blood in the heart of her child, 
although he may have gone from home fo young 
that file cannot remember his countenance. If 
you tranfplant from the farthefl north a little 
fapling, it will retain, in its warmer home, the 
rigid form that marks its race ; or, if you bring 
here, from tropic regions, the young flioot, it 
will have in its growth, the fuperb lift and the 
airy grace which it inherits. Thus do I find in 
myfelf feelings, the roots of which reach far back 
into Rhode Ifland foil. 

But, though I am proud to call Rhode Ifland 
my mother, all my years have been paffed in 
MafTachufetts ; and to it I look up as a child to 
its father. And fo it has occurred to me to fay 
fomething of the relation of thefe two States, 
and of the manner in which the influences which 
furround life in the one, compliment the influ- 
ences which furround life in the other. Thofe of 
us who have travelled by land hither cannot fail 
to have been impreffed by the fudden change 
which meets us as we enter this Ifland. The rocks 



1 78 THE RE-UNION. 

give place to level plains; the rough hard foil 
difappears, and the earth is decked with genial 
verdure; and, as if by magic, you have^ paffed 
from the workday world into fome fair Arcadia, 
where nature loves you, and flieds her bleffings 
around with grateful profulion. Such always 
feems to me the tranfition from Maffachufetts to 
Rhode Illand life. We pafs from the workiliop 
to the paradife, from the feverifli bullle of life 
to the place of repofe, where all the air breathes 
peace, and every influence diftils reft into the 
weary foul. And how precious are thefe green 
cafes in this American life of ours I 

'* Nor lefs I deem that there are powers. 
Which of themfelves our minds imprefs; 
That we can feed this mind of ours 
In a wife paffivenefs." 

Do not miftake me ; the bufy Maffachufetts life 
is good as well as the tranquil Rhode Ifland life. 
Beautiful are they when blended together, as in 
the case of our own Channing, who furniflies fo 
apt an illuftration of my thought. 

We have heard, Mr. Mayor, a great many 
eulogies, this afternoon, upon Roger Williams. 
At home, Sir, I fliould be ready to do (lout 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. l-yg 

battle for him againft all foes; but here, on the 
foil of Newport, I call to mind that he belonged 
to Providence, and not to our ifland ; and I con- 
fefs to have inherited enough of that traditionary 
jealoufy of Providence, which, I believe, be- 
longed to Newport, (The Mayor: Providence 
jealous of us? Mr. Pitman: Ah, yes! the in- 
ferior jealous of the fuperior, of courfe !) to defire 
that the memory of one of our own Sons fliould 
take the place of pre-eminence. Rhode Ifland, 
we have been told to-day, is "the oldeft inde- 
pendent State in America ;" we know flie was the 
hrft to eftablilli religious liberty, but. Sir, civil 
and religious liberty are but means, and not 
ends; and they culminate in Spiritual freedom. 
Of that William Ellery Channing is the apoftle. 
No man has done fo much to lift the thought of 
the young men of our land to that higher atmo- 
fphere where the afcending foul, fpuming the 
fetters of party and fed, the bondage of the 
fenfes, and all the alluring " fliows of things," 
expands in the contemplation of the Unieen 
and Eternal. Nor is his influence deftined to 
be Amply local or national. Already are there 
indications of its growing power over the bell 
minds of continental Europe. One of her ripelt 



l80 THE RE-UNION. 

fcholars, Chevalier Bunfen, has recently fpoken 
of him in terms of admiring enthuiiafm. 

It is to me to-day a pleafant thought that as 
his cradle was in Rhode Ifland and his grave in 
Malfachufetts, fo did these two fifter States pour 
the influences of their life into his being. You 
all know how he loved our ifland. "No fpot 
on earth has helped fo much to form me as that 
beach," was his declaration. But he loved, too, 
the State and city of his adoption. " I would 
not exchange Bofton for any city on the earth," 
he wrote. And fo his maturer life was made up 
of thofe beautiful pictures which his nephew has 
fo finely llvetched in his view of "A Day at New- 
port," and " A Day in Bofton." Here, in moft 
undifturbed communion with nature and with 
her great Author were created within his foul 
thofe fublime afpirations and thofe lofty thoughts 
which the intenfer life of Bofton ftimulated into 
earneft exprefTion. Rhode Ifland, with all its 
fl^yey influences difpofed to reft, to philofophic 
reflexion, to facred reverie, — Maffachufetts, with 
her more eledric mental atmofphere incited to 
development, concentration, and utterance. 

The mention of Channing recalls to my mind, 
as one of his favorite haunts, the Redwood 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. l8l 

Library; and I allude to this venerable inftitution 
for the purpofe of making a pradical suggeftion. 
As Returned Sons, the defire would feem to arife 
fpontaneoully in all our hearts to ered fome 
acknowledgment of your bountiful hofpitality, 
fome memorial of our happy home-vifit. Some 
rich depoht of love fliould the Sons of Newport 
leave behind, as the returning tide bears us again 
away. What worthier offering could we of 
Maifachufetts payf than to enrich and adorn, 
with fome new treaiure, the youthful Study of 
Channing. 

In concluding, let me fay that moft of thofe 
whom I reprefent have paffed the adive years of 
their life in the city of their adoption. Yet 
Newport is ftill their mother; and though in 
mid-life we may think moft of our father, as the 
fliadows lengthen it is natural to draw nearer to 
our mother once again, and as I liftened, Mr. 
Mayor, to the expreffion of hope with which 
you clofed, that all might return before the even- 
ing of life, " fo that their clofing years may be 
quietly paffed in the home of their birth," I felt 
that the wifli muft rife warm from many a heart 
when " the almond tree lliall flouriili," and " all 
the daughters of mulic iliall be brought low," 
i6 



l82 THE RE-UNION. 

and " defire {hall fail," that then they might find 
balmy reft from the fever of life, in this peace- 
ful harbor, — be fung to their laft fleep by the 
murmuring voices of the fea, which were heard 
around their cradle, — and be gathered with their 

fathers. 

The St. Louis, Mo., Delegation was next called 

upon, when James G. Cozzens, Efq., a returned 

Son, fpoke as follows : 

Mr. Mayor — Ladies and Gentlemen : 

Although not officially delegated by the Sons 
of Newport in St. Louis, to reply on their behalf 
to the welcome of the Mayor, yet I cannot let 
this occafion pafs without faying a few words 
about this glorious Reunion, in which I have, 
for a long time, felt a deep intereft. 

I thank you heartily for my lliare of the 
handfome and cordial welcome extended to us 
this day, and I think that the reft of the New- 
porters in St. Louis would do the fame, were 
they here to partake of your generous hofpital- 
ity. I know that they were all anxious to come, 
and I have no doubt but that they are now 
thinking of us here, and the glorious time we are 
having. There are five or fix Newport boys in 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 183 

St. Louis, and I am forry that no more of them 
were able to come ; but circumftances, and the 
great diftance between here and there, has pre- 
vented them. 

St. Louis, as you well know, is a city of no 
little importance, lituated on the weft bank of 
the Miffiffippi. Not only is her prefent polition 
among the cities of the Union a prominent one, 
but her immenfe and rapid growth during the 
paft few years is unequalled in the rife of cities. 
Twenty-five years ago, llie fcarcely had ten thou- 
fand inhabitants; now (lie can count two hun- 
dred thoufand fouls within her limits, which lim- 
its comprife an area of fifteen and a half fquare 
miles, extending for feven and a half miles on 
the river bank, and three and a halfback. This 
is not all ; file cannot ftop here ; it is almoft im- 
poffible for her to go back ; flie muft go ahead, 
for there is every thing to make her do fo I 

Politico-economical writers alTert that there 
are three things neceffary to make a great city ; 
any two will do it ; but the poffeffion of all 
three cannot fail. Thefe are Agriculture, Com- 
merce and Manufactures. St. Louis has them 
all. The produds of the States of Iowa, Minne- 
fota, Wifconfin and Illinois on the north ; of 



184 THE RE-UNION. 

Miffouri, Kanfas, Nebralka, Utah and New 
Mexico on the weft ; and many of the Southern 
States, — muft find a market here. The trans- 
portation of all this immenfe wealth of the foil, 
gives her a commerce unrivalled among weft- 
ern cities. Then the vaft refources of the '• Iron 
Mountain," and the " Pilot Knob," befides the 
hundreds of mines of copper, lead and other 
metals, muft tend, with the other branches of 
trade, to make her an extenfive and profitable 
manufafturing place. 

In noticing the prefent profperity and rapid 
growth of St. Louis, I would mention the great 
ftabihty which has always charaQerized her 
bufinefs tranfaclions, and the firm bafis-on which 
all her buildings and aflbciations have been 
eftabliftied. There is not that mulliroom-like 
growth, fo noticeable in many of our weftern 
cities. The well-known folidity of St. Louis 
merchants is finely reprefented in a little inci- 
dent which I will relate as briefly as polTible. 
It feems a Kentuckian had, upon the Levee, a 
flave mart, and, while fitting at the door one 
day, he noticed a trim-looking Miflburian look- 
ing in, and thus accofted him : " Would you 
Hke to purchafe to-day. Sir ? " The MiflTourian 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. igr 

replied in the affirmative, and went in to feled 
a fervant. He inquired the price of one he 
thought would fuit him, and was told by the 
Kentuckian, that the price was I500, and that 
he might have the cuftomary fix months' credit. 
The Miffourian thought awhile, not liking to 
have the burden of a debt for fo long, then, with 
a knowing fmile, he fays: "Stranger, I had 
rather pay you fix hundred dollars dov/n, than 
take the fix months' credit." It is that principle 
of paying cafli, and relying on their own 
refources, that has given St. Louis fo found a 
clafs of merchants. They do not depend on 
borrowed capital for the means of paying their 
debts. 

But, ladies and gentlemen, I will not tire you 
with a dry account of St. Louis. She fpeaks 
loudly for herfelf I muft, however, fay a few 
words more about this occafion before I clofe. 

The re-union of the " Sons and Daughters of 
Newport " was propofed, arranged, and has been 
glorioufly carried out. Newport now has fome- 
thing to be proud of, and we all ought to be 
proud of her. It lliows conclufively that things 
can be done in Newport as well as anywhere 
elfe, when (lie is worked up to the fad. At the 
16* 



1 86 THE RE-UNION. 

time it was firft propofed, and even up to within 
three months of this time, no one thought or 
imagined that it could or would be carried out. 
It looked like a large undertaking, and lb it was. 
But now, at the dole of this day, when we can 
look back upon the brilliant fuccefs, and the 
great enthuliafm that has attended it, we can but 
acknowledge it to be the greateft and moft 
glorious day Newport has ever feen. 

I have been here all day, and heard fpeeches 
— fome of them brilliant and eloquent fpeeches, 
all of them very much to the point, but not one 
word have I heard concerning the benefit New- 
port is to derive from this re-union. We have 
heard of her beauties, of her advantageous 
pofition, and of the paft and prefent, but the 
future, (the moft important queftion before her 
now,) has been but lightly touched upon. 

The queftion of " what can be done ? " is in- 
deed a difficult one to anfwer, though the caufe 
of her prefent inaQion is plain enough. New- 
port boys have left their native ifle, and fought 
homes and employment in other cities, and it is 
faid they will all do well. Why? I do not 
know that they are any fmarter than boys from 
other places, but it is this : Thofe jhat ftay at 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 187 

home have but Httle to occupy their time. They 
fee the older men of the city fitting down in in- 
action — content to get along juft fb, and human 
nature entices them to fit down too. But when 
they get away, and go to cities where all is ftir 
and buftle, and mingle in with the hurry and 
drive of bufmefs, they are excited to action ; they 
lee others moving, and they muft move too, or 
be left behind. It is the excitement of having 
lomething to do, of feeing others at work, that 
cauies them to do well, while their native town 
is (till lagging behind in fpite of all that ilie has 
to aid her on. We iliould look to this. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have already de- 
tained you too long. I thank you for your 
attention, and for this hearty welcome extended 
to us to-day. 

The Nantucket, Maffachufetts, Delegation 
was now called for, and William R. Easton, 
Efq., (a Returned Son,) fpoke in an earnelt and 
efFedive manner, as follows : 

Mr. Chairman, Ladks, and Gentlemen : 

I will detain you but a {tw moments. The 
field is large, but who would exped to find 



l88 THE RE-UNION. 

any choice flowers on any field, however large, 
over which Newport men have rambled. Sir, I 
might fpeak of the achievements of my native 
State, in the War of the Revolution, and of the 
laurels ilie gained in the laft War with England, 
but this would be fuperfluous. I might fay 
fomething of the eminent men whom (lie has 
fent to the councils of the nation; I might fpeak 
of the brilliant wit and fcorchi ng farcafm of her 
Burges,* the calm and dignified logic of her 
Hunter, the claflical attainments of her Robbins, 
who, in the Senate of the United States, made a 
moft eloquent appeal in favor of the claim of 
Sufan Decatur, the better half of one of the 
moft gallant and brave of our naval Command- 
ers, an appeal worthy of himfelf and worthy of 
Newport. . In the abfence of your honored 
Mayor from the chair, who has prefided over 
this vaft affembly with great ability and dignity, 
I might aflv, emphatically, Sir, what town or city, 
no larger than Newport, has had two of her 
Sons in Congrefs, who, for ability, integrity, and 
fidelity, have excelled the Cranftons ? But, Sir, 
my chief object in rifing, at this late hour, was 

^ Born in Mafiachufetts. 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 189 

to make due acknowledgment, in behalf of my 
affociates, the Sons and Daughters of Newport, 
and refidents of Nantucket, for the kind invita- 
tion, this cordial reception and hearty welcome 
to the city of our nativity, and the fcenes of our 
childhood. 

Sir, in early youth we threaded the ftreets of 
this interefting and ancient city, we roamed over 
your fair and fertile fields, inhaling the falubrious 
and invigorating air ; aye, Sir, we roamed over 
Rhode Ifland, denominated by Morfe the " Eden 
of America," and by John Ouincy Adams, '' the 
molt beautiful gem on the bofom of the ocean." 
We went to Tammany Hill, to Stone Bridge, to 
Fort Adams, to the Beaches, to Paradise, and to 
Purgatory, and, happily, returned even from the 
laft, unfcathed. I have fpoken of your noble 
beaches, within the found of whofe waters I was 
born ; hkewife, a long line of anceftors. There, 
for the first time, as it were, I heard the voice of 
God in the majeitic roll and graceful undulating 
waves of the ocean, as they (pent their force and 
broke upon your placid fliore. Sir, my bofom 
fwells with emotion, and embarraiTes fpeech, as I 
f^and furrounded by fo many of the fair forms 
and features of the people of ray native ifle, 



190 THE RE-UNION. 

defcended from the fame general (lock with my- 
felf, and fit reprefentatives of a noble anceftry. 
Sir, I will detain you no longer, but will again 
thank you for the courtefy and hofpitality ex- 
tended to us on this mod; interefting and glorious 
Re-union of the Sons and Daughters of our far- 
famed and beloved Newport. 

The Rev. William H. Moore, of Hempftead, 
Long Ifland, a (Returned Son,) was next called 
upon, and refponded as follows : 

Mr. Major, and my Fellow-Citizens : 

He is a bold man who, at this eleventh hour, 
attempts to intereft this crowd, almofi: furfeited 
with good things, and weary of hearing. And 
were it not that I might feem lacking in courte- 
fy in refponding to your call, I lliould remain 
filent. Of our fathers, and their deeds and 
virtues, many and noble as they were, I con- 
ceive enough has been faid. 

My feelings of fatisfaction and delight with 
what I have this day feen and heard, do, indeed, 
almoil compel me to fpeak. I had thought, Sir, 
that I had always entertained a fufficiently ex- 
alted eftimate of this, my native place, and its 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 



191 



citizens. I have felt it a religious duty to im- 
prefs my children with a love for her, and to 
relate to them her honorable ftory. But I have 
feen that to-day which fills me with a greater 
love for Newport, and impreffes me with a pro- 
founder refpea for her inhabitants. Every thing 
connected with this re-union has been arranged 
with fuch a "hberal heart devifmg liberal things," 
with fuch admirable forecaft, and with fuch 
refpeclful and affedionate intereft in the abfent 
children of Newport, as to excite my admira- 
tion of the authorities and citizens who have 
brought to fuch a iplendid iffue this grand idea 
of a family gathering. And it is your due that 
it ihould be thus publicly dated, that, from every 
delegation, from whatever quarter gathered, I 
have heard but one expreffion, that of delight 
and exultation. All honor to thofe who origi- 
nated — all honor to thofe who wrought out fo 
beautifully this affemblage of your ablent broth- 
ers and fillers I 

When, in addition to all this, I confider the 
felf-refped which has been exhibited by the valt 
crowd gathered here and out of doors; when I 
note the abfence of everything of a difturbing 
nature, who mult not feel a pride in calling this 



192 THE RE-UNION. 

his birthplace, claim that he is a citizen of " no 
mean city," as St. Paul calls his native Tarfus, 
and thank God that it was ordained his lot to be 
bom here'? 

Sir, after what has been feen to-day, I am con- 
ftrained to aik what Newport cannot accomplifli 
if flie but fets her hand refolutely to do it ! Be 
true to yourfelves, my fellow-citizens, be felf-re- 
hant — feel that your brothers all over the land 
are with you in every exhibition of enterprife. 
Feel that you have in your keeping the good 
name, the honorable fame of this ancient city, 
and the profoundell feelings of your abfent kin- 
dred, and Newport muft go forward in a pros- 
perous career. 

You have founded the filial affedion of the 
children of Newport, and you have found the 
plummet finks deep. We have been proud of 
you ; may you never have reafon to be alliamed 
of any of us. I give you. Sir, in conclufion, 
this heart-felt fentiment. 

" Union and Re-Uniov." — May this ever be the heart- 
throb of every one of Rhode Ifland's Sons and Daughters." 

Thomas P. Rodman, having been invited to 
addrefs the audience as a delegate from Bridge- 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 



193 



water, Maffachufetts, alked leave to fpeak for 
Plymouth County. He faid that the fentlment 
exprelTed in the feftivities of this day was that of 
brotherhood. Plymouth Bay and Mofliafuch 
River were bright with the light of memory, 
and both were full of memorials of brotherhood. 
The " Welcome, Engliflimen," of Samofet, and 
the " What Cheer " of the red man who fpoke 
for his comrades to Roger Williams, were alTur- 
ances of brotherhood. The feeling that glad- 
dens us to-day, he faid, was the fame that 
warmed the common human heart in the red 
men and the white men in the earlieit days of 
New England hiftory. Ruder feelings held fway 
afterwards, but, in the beginning, friendfliip and 
brotherhood prevailed. Rhode Illand claims to 
have been always true to the principles of broth- 
erhood ; and Plymouth, unlike Maffachufetts, 
fhows, in her annals, a near refemblance to 
Rhode Illand. Religious freedom is the bond 
of brotherhood. As an illuftration of the prin- 
ciples of religious freedom, he would offer a 
metrical rehearfal of an old tale, which might 
be fact or fable, but which was, be it one or the 
other, a parabolic ftatement of a univerfal truth. 
He then read the following poem : 
«7 



194 



THE RE-UNION. 



THE THRONE AND THE ALTAR. 



From the valTal realms of a vanquifhed world the conqueror's 

throne around. 
With eyes of anxious queflioning full, and lips that gave no 

found. 
Stood miniilers of all the rites that fhadow forth the thought. 
That breathes in every foul of him who leaves no foul 

untaught. 
There were thofe in gorgeous fanes that bowed, and at humble 

wayfide Ihrines, 
That iilent prayed 'mid furging oaks, or 'mid foft whifpering 

pines ; 
That hailed beneath the dawnlit fky the monarch of the day. 
And watched him on his mountain march through all his 

glorious way ; 
That gazed upon the queenly moon and her bright leaders 

feven. 
That fteadfaft on the ardlic height marfhal the hoft of heaven ; 
And in the filent voices of the day and of the night. 
Felt their Maker's and their Father's love, his wifdom and his 

might. 
And all were wondering why the call that gathered them that 

day. 
Was uttered by the fearful man who o'er all lands claimed 

fway. 

That wondering but not abjeft throng the monarch proudly 

eyed, 
^nd wakening all their ears at once, with ftartling voice he 

cried, — 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 



195 



I 



The Living Source of Life in men and all things, do ye own ! 
In reverent affirmation bowed the numbers round the throne. 
What is his name, demanded he, — and one by one replied. 
And he liftened with a mocking look, as one who dared deride 
The tendernefs of human faith in fatherhood divine ; 
But ftill the men of humble heart anfwered with word and 

And one from India called him Life : and one from Perlia 

Light ; 
And one that from Judea came with mitre flafhing bright, 
Infcribed with an unfpoken name, faid, — From eternity- 
He is, and was, and is to come, and evermore fhall be. 
And every one a reverend name breathes forth in fervent 

tones. 
And calmly thankful felt the ftrength of a power above earth's 

thrones. 

When all had fpoken, then again the proud man's voice was 

heard. 
And [the hearts of all the worfhippers were troubled at his 

word: 
At the footftool of one monarch, ye behold above your heads 
The fceptre of his earth-wide fway : no king befides me, 

treads 
On aught but tributary foil ; and my altar like my throne. 
Shall Hand without a rival ; my God ye all mull own ; 
Zeus is his name in Macedon, and Zeus fhall be his name 
In every region of the earth where my fword has conquered 

fame. 
Then filently the wife men thought how this imperious 

change. 



196 THE RE-UNION. 

Would wonder-flrike the fimple, and all their life derange. 
But the murmur of remonftrance had not yet gathered found. 
When a fearlefs man of many years fpoke out thefe words 

profound : 
Brothers, the ruler of the day, ye know him, and rejoice. 
When his lone light fills the boundlefs fky, can you give his 

name a voice ? 
And many names were fpoken, and then the old man faid. 
And his eye fell on the monarch who gave the word fo dread. 
No, call him Heliod, by that name, Alexander calls the fun ; 
And his name throughout the empire muft henceforth be but 

one. 
The monarch felt the wife rebuke, and fhame his face fuffufed ; 
He felt one moment as a man, and as a man he mufed. 
He faw, would that men always faw, that the fubllance, not 

the fhow. 
Is worth the wife heart's notice, that while men dwell below. 
By names that partial knowledge writes, fome muft know the 

All in All,— 
That he only feels God's fatherhood, who men can brethren 

call. 

Several fentiments were then read by Mr. 
CozzENS, the preliding Officer, one of which, 
offered by George B. Weaver, Efq., of Middle- 
town, was complimentary to the yeomanry of 
our ifland. 

Mr. TouRjEE here fang the Marfeilles Hymn 
in very fine ftyle. 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 



197 



His Honor, Mayor Cranston, then came 
upon the platform, and read the following, the 
produdion of one of the Daughters : 

OUR HOME BY THE SEA. 

BY A DAUGHTER OF NEWPORT. 

We greet thee ! we hail thee, our home by the Tea ! 

Where the fong of the waves fwelleth fad on the fhore ; 
Sweet fcene of our birth and our childhood, to thee. 

Thy Sons and thy Daughters are gathered once more. 

Long years have rolled by fmce we bade thee farewell, 
Our hearts beating high with the fervor of youth. 

While Hope, with her voice like a filvery bell. 
Sang fweetly of beauty, and virtue, and truth. 

Her fyren-like mufic rang foft Hke a fpell. 

As we bade the dear homes of our childhood adieu ; 

But the wind on the waters rofe high like a knell. 
As we left the kind hearts that had ever been true. 

We have fought in the din and the battle of life. 

Till our locks, that were brown, are befprinkled with gray ; 

And oft we have paufed in the wearifome llrifc. 
To figh for our home by the fea far away. 

Once more do we greet thee — but where are the loved 
Who gladdened the hearth in the bright days of old ? 

17* 



198 THE RE-UNION. 

The mother, whofe changelefs afFeftion we proved ? — 
The fweet little fifter, with trefTes of gold ? 

Alas ! in our beautiful home by the deep. 

There lieth a garden all filent and low. 
And over it, foftly, the fad willows weep. 

And over it, gently, the night breezes blow. 

And there, with her cold, fnowy hands on her breaft. 

Never more to encircle her child as of old. 
That mother lies fleeping, and by her, at reft. 

That fweet httle fifter, with treffes of gold. 

And thus, as we greet thee, our birth-place again. 
We figh for the Ihore where no grave-gardens be — 

But we joyfully welcome the friends who remain. 
As proudly we hail thee, our home by the fea. 

We alfo add a number of Poems, fent in to 
the Committee, which will be read with intereft. 

AN ODE FOR THE OCCASION. 

WRITTEN BY A DAUGHTER OF NEWPORT. 

All hail to Rhode Illand ! where'er we may roam. 
The home of our childhood is ever our home ; 
And though abfent for years, there is no place on earth 
Like the home of our boyhood, the land of our birth. 
There our firft breath was drawn, the firft youthful emo- 
tion. 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 



199 



Was flrengthened and nurfed by the breath of the ocean ; 
Like the waves of that ocean, though far we may roam. 
Again we come back to our old Ifland home. 
Then hail to Rhode Illand, &c. 

Years have paft, we're returned in our manhood and prime. 
To tread the fame foil of our childhood's bright time ; 
Old Newport remains, but thofe are not here 
To welcome us back that in childhood were dear. 
Our parents, where are they ? alas ! paiTed away ; 
They fleep in " God's acre " the long funny day ; 
But their fpirits are with us wherever we roam. 
And rejoice with us now in our old ifland home. 
Then hail to Rhode Ifland, &c. 

Their fpirits go with us to-day to each fpot 
That's fo Hnked with the pafl: it can ne'er be forgot. 
The beach where we bathed, and the pond where we fkated. 
The fchools, where we ftudied, till with Daboll quite fated. 
We turned to our grammar, our fpelling and writing. 
And leiTons unlearned which we aimed at reciting. 
Till tired of confiement, we all wiflied to roam. 
Long, long ere the fchoolmailer bade us go home. 
Then hail to Rhode Ifland, &c. 

At the end of each week, how we boys would all ftrive 

To out do each other from two until five. 

In the fpeeches we made of fo great a variety. 

They muft fadly have tafked our fchoolmafler's fobriety. 

As we tell of thofe days, no one will refute us. 

That Cicero, Cato, and Caesar and Brutus, 



200 THE RE-UNION. 

And a great many others were murdered each week 
By a troop of us boys while endeavoring to /peak. 
Then hail to Rhode Ifland, &c. 

But the school-houfe has gone, and the mailer departed. 
And the boys that were with us, fo gay and light-heated. 
Have grown into men of bufmefs and care. 
And are fcattered abroad, we could fcarcely tell where. 
Till to-day, re-united, together we fland — 
A group of all ages, a Rhode Ifland band. 
Then hail to Rhode Ifland, &c. 

But many we mifs from the fchool-room and hearth. 
That claimed our loved Ifle as the land of their birth; 
Some reft in its bofom, and fome, far from here. 
Sleep their long dreamlefs fleep without trouble or fear. 
They await that re-union that 's promifed above ; 
That '* feaft of all nations," the union of love ; 
But their fpirits are with us to-day as we roam 
O'er the land of our birth-place, our ocean-girt home. 
Then hail to Rhode Ifland, &c. 



HOME, SWEET HOME. 

Mid pleafures and palaces, tho' we may roam. 
Our hearts, dear Rhode Island, are true to our home, 
A charm from the Ikies feems to hallow us there. 
Which, feek thro' the world, is ne'er met with elfewhere. 
Home ! Home ! fweet, fweet home. 
Be it ever fo humble, there's no place hke Home. 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 201 

We have travelled abroad — we have failed on the Rhine, 
But ne'er have we met fuch a climate as thine. 
The ikies are no purer on Italy's fhore 
Than thofe we now meet in our loved ifle once more. 
Home, — there's no place like Home. 

Our Beach, how delightful to vifit once more. 
And bathe in the ocean again as of yore. 
To gaze on the Spouting Rock, Lilly Pond Glen, 
And in Paradife roam through the green fields again. 
Home, — there's no place like home. 

An exile from home, fplendor dazzles in vain. 
How gladly we hail this dear ifland again. 
Our dear native ifland ! thou gem of the fea. 
Oh long have we wilhed to return home to thee. 
Home ! Home L fweet, fweet home. 
Be it ever fo humble, there's no place like Home. 



OUR NATIVE ISLE. 

We have gathered — we have gathered 

In our native ifle again. 
Long divided — widely fevered. 

Come we now from mound and plain. 
Crowded mart and lonely valley, 

Weftern lakes and Southern fea. 
Now within our native ifland. 

We will fmg of Liberty. 
19 



202 THE RE-UNION. 

Let the anthem rifing, fwelling. 

Float acrofs our lovely Bay, 
With old ocean's billow blending. 

And the ripple of the fpray 
O'er our beaches, hills and valleys, 

Smiling to the fapphire fky, 
Churchyard green and ancient homefteads. 

Wake the fong of Liberty. 

Anthem meet for Newport's children. 

Requiem meet for fainted dead. 
Far thro' every State and Nation, 

Bid the thundering chorus fpread, 
'Till each fetter breaks afunder, 

'Till free hands are raifed on high, 
'Till thro' all this mighty country, 

Burft glad fhouts of Liberty. 

Ellen. 

ACROSTIC. 
By P. B. 

Wake up, gentle morn ! let the ties which hath bound us. 

Exert us to move in this fplendid array ; 
Let our Sons and our Daughters who duller around us, 

Confefs that our ardor hath felt no decay. 
Our hearts muft be open as well as our houfes. 

Magnificence reigning in Newport all day, — 
Each man muft be true to the caufe fhe efpoufes — 

The tribute is grand that to Friendfhip we pay. 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 203 

O, who, that from home and from kindred have wandered. 

Need be told of the fweetnefs, the joy and the bhfs. 
Emerging from hearts which in filence have pondered. 

With long cherifhed hopes of a meeting like this. 
Prepare the rich feaft, and emit the libation. 

Ornament the gay cottage, the palace and dome. 
Relume the pavilion, recite the Oration, 

Then tell them 'tis Newport thus welcomes them home. 

His Honor then introduced the Toaft-mafter of 
the day, Mr. Atkinson, who gave, as a doling 
fentiment — 

The Day We Celebrate. — -May it ever be regarded as a 
day of joyous reminifccnces, and remembered, as one of 
perpetual Junjhine, by all the Sons and Daughters of New- 
port. 

The Mufical Inititute, under the diredion of 

Mr. TouRjEE, then fang the 

VALEDICTORY HYMN. 

When {hall we all meet again. 
When fhall we all meet again. 
Oft fhall glowing hope expire. 
Oft fhall wearied love retire. 

Oft fhall death and forrow reign. 

Ere we gather home again. 



204 THE RE-UNION. 

But while we on earth remain. 

Oft we'll gather up again, 

Sweeteft memories of this hour. 

And our hearts will feel the power 

Of the tie unicing here. 

All who hold Rhode Ifland dear. 
Bearing with us all the while. 
Loving thought of this dear iflc. 

Ifle of beauty, fare thee well. 

Some of us far hence mull dwell. 

Yet we often hope to come 

Hither to our cherifhed home ; 

Brothers ! Sifters ! Fare thee well ! 

Be it ours in Heaven to dwell, — 
When the fcenes of earth is o'er. 
There to meet and part no more. 

At the conclufion of the hymn, the Feflivities 
of this long-to-be-remembered, glorious Re-union 
were concluded by linging the Doxology, in 
which the whole audience united, to the tune of 
" Old Hundred," 

"Praife God, from whom all bleffings flow." 



i 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 205 

At twelve o'clock, the vaft affemblage of Sons 
and Daughters had quietly feparated, all of 
whom hoping, no doubt, that they may live to 
enjoy, at fome future time, another re-union, 
equally pleafant, harmonious and fuccefsful. 

A number of Addreffes prepared for the 
occafion, could not be delivered for want of 
time. At the folicitation of the Committee, the 
feveral delegates have furniflied copies of thefe 
to be inferted in the record, and it is with pleas- 
ure that we here place them before the reader. 
The firft is from Thomas Vernon, Efq., a 
returned Son, and the delegate from New York : 

Mr. Mayor ^ a7id feUow-citizens of Nevjport : 

When, Sir, Grecian colonifts left the mother 
city, they took, from off the public hearth, the 
facred fire of home, and carried it with them to 
their new abodes, where its hallowed glow kept 
bright within the exile's heart the memories and 
traditions of his native city. Filial affedion 
and a common religion rendered ilrong the fealty 
of the colonifts to the parent city; and, on fol- 
emn municipal feftivals, the mother city wel- 
comed back to her bofom her abfent Sons. Mr. 






206 THE RE-UNION. 

Mayor, the hallowed fire of our old Newport 
hearths t6-^ ftill keep alive in our new homes ; 
and, Sir, the bleffed offspring of the faith of our 
fathers, "foul-liberty," is (till our boaft and our 
pricelefs heritage wherever we go. On this feftal 
day, joyouily we return to our mother city, and 
thank Heaven that we were born on a foil fo 
rich and precious in its memories, fo eloquent 
and fublime in its hiftory. 

Away, Sir, from our home, we ever proudly 
claim that the principle which evoked Rhode 
Ifland into exiftence has exerted, and ftill exerts 
an influence upon the fortunes of our race, alto- 
gether difproportioned to the geographical limits 
of the State. And, Sir, confpicuous in the early 
ftruggle for the affertion of this principle, were 
our Coddingtons, our Coggeshalls, our Clarkes, 
our Hutchinfons, all men of Newport; and. Sir, 
I believe that the dignity of character, and the 
fuccefs which diftinguiflies the Sons of Newport, 
wherever they go, are chiefly due to that felf- 
reliance and individualifm which the religion of 
" foul-liberty " nurtured. 

How proud and glorious are the hiftorical 
affociations of old Newport ! We boail that 
Newport was once the metropolis of the colo- 



i 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 10'] 

nies and the feat of letters and refinement on this 
continent. Our noble harbor once briftled with 
forefts of mafts; here lived merchant princes, 
known all over North America, and whofe influ- 
ence and correfpondence was foHcited by Euro- 
pean houfes ; here, too, the thrifty Jews — our 
Lopezes and our Touros — filled their ftorehoufes 
with the merchandife of every clime ; while, in 
yonder lynagogue, they worfhipped the God of 
Abraham. So eminent was the pofition of 
Newport in colonial times, that antiquarians tell 
us that letters for New York from Europe, in 
order to reach that modeft fea-fhore town, are 
known to have been direded to " New York, 
near Newport, Rhode Ifland." 

Here, too, the lovely climate of our ifland, its 
pidurefque landfcapes and fea-view^s, and its 
elegant fociety, attraded the learned of the colo- 
nies and of other climes. On yonder cliffs the 
gentle fpirit of Berkeley was v/ont to mufe pro- 
foundly. Our gorgeous funfets and our mel- 
lower than Italian fkies, infpired the genius of a 
Stuart, a King, and a Malbone ; and here 

" An Allfton's foul-cnkindled eye 
Drank in the glories of our funfec iky." 



208 



THE RE-UNION. 



Here, too, lived famous divines. Here Hop- 
kins preached his ftern theology, and the learned 
Styles began to run his career of academic honors. 
And, in boyhood, our own Channing was wont 
to wander along our ocean (liore, " dear to him 
in sunlliine, ftill more attraftive in the ftorm. 
There he lifted up his voice in praife amidft the 
tempeft ; there, foftened by beauty, he poured 
out his thankfgivings and contrite confefTions ; 
and there, in reverential fympathy with the 
mighty power around him, he became confcious 
of power within." As he gazed upon the ocean, 
boundlefs, uncontrolled, fave by Deity — fit em- 
blem of human freedom — he conceived the dead- 
lieft hatred of human oppreflion, and the fondefl: 
devotion to liberty. 

But, Sir, well alfo may we be proud of the 
hiftory of Newport during the Revolution ; it is 
the hiftory of her self-facrifice. Although the 
favored children of commerce, and certain, from 
the very pofition of their port, to fall a prey to 
hoftile plunder, the noble merchants of Newport 
enthufiaftically facrificed their fortunes to the 
caufe of their country. Their argofies were 
deftroyed, and they were themfelves driven from 
their homes. I believe. Sir, it was this devotion 
to liberty which coft Newport her power. 



i 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 



209 



Dear Sir, to us are thefe memories and thefe 
aflbciations ; but, dearer ftill, to us, is old New- 
port, becaufe it is the home of our fathers and 
mothers — the home of our brothers and filters — 
the home of our childhood and of our fchool- 
mates. Dear and precious to us ftill are the old 
church and the fchoolhoufe ; hallowed to us by 
innocent pleafures, are the harbor, the ponds, the 
beach, the creek, the boat-houfe. Sacred, for- 
ever, to us, is yonder old North Yard, where 
fleep fo many of thofe whom we loved, over 
whofe bofoms affeftion will lovingly fcatter the 
flowers of fummer. 

Whether life be drear or joyous, ftorm or fun- 
fliine, whatever changes of life await us, yet 
thou, fair ifle, wilt ever be the fame to us; the 
fpray-wreathed headland will ever ftretch its 
brawny neck towards the fea; old ocean's deep- 
toned voice will ever fpeak to us in thofe fame 
myfterious, majeftic tones with which flie awed 
our childhood into thoughtful reverence; the 
facred dull of our fathers fhall become part of 
thy hallowed foil ; as lading and unchanging as 
thefe fliall be our love to thee, dear ille of our 
fathers ! The fond words of a Newport bard, 
whofe fweet mufe has thrown a gentle halo over 
18 



210 THE RE-UNION. 

the later annals of Newport, have, from child- 
hood, been precious in my memory, and to-day 
I would gratefully recall them. 

, *' There is a glory haunts thy fapphire fky. 

Thy emerald fvvell and flopes not foon fhall die ; 
Old ocean's bofom heaves with pride for thee. 
And lends the eye of day with love to fee 
Thine inland beauties and thy feaward fvveep, 
O, fair, midft faireft daughters of the deep ! " 

The following is from William E. Almy, 
Efq., of New London, Conn. : 

Mr. Mayor: — The Sons and Daughters of 
Newport, relident at New London, thank you 
with their whole heart for this mofk gratifying 
welcome to their native city. 

The lot of thofe for whom I fpeak to-day has 
been cad among a kind, a generous, and a 
fpirited people. We live in fight of lofty mon- 
uments, which tell of bloody ftrife for liberty ; 
we live where Arnold's torch ferved but to 
illume more brightly the pathway to freedom ; 
we live where rocks, and hills, and dales echo 
and re-echo the fweet ftrains of their lamented 
Brainard. Such a people will permit us, on this 
occafion, to fay that our firft love, and our firft 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 211 

duty, Is to the city of our birth. We are happy 
to avow it. 

As, a few days fince, we glided ova your 
beautiful bay, we foon recognized the objeds 
mod familiar to us. There was "Tammany 
Hill," there the fymmetrlcal fpire of dear old 
Trinity Church, to meet the fun in his coming, 
and be gilded by his morning and evening rays. 
There the great fortrefs, a monument to the (kill 
of a Totten; there the afylum, which humanity 
has ereded to flielter thofe whom misfortune has 
fmitten with the feverer trials of life ; there that 
monument, which reminds us of the battle- 
thunders of Erie, and of the fplendid naval hero 
— our own brave and beloved Perry, and thofe 
of his command — there the lime rocks, the 
clufter of willows, where hilarity and joyoufnefs 
have fo often reigned ; there the blue rocks, ftill 
willing to hear the tender tale ; there the dear 
old State Houfe, the found of whofe bells, on 
Eledion morn, was fweeter mufic to our juvenile 
ears than would be that of the combined bands 
of the world. Here memory comes with a rufli, 
and claims our tribute to the attradlons of that 
holiday of the old and the young. We fee the 
tents, the cakes, the colored eggs, the egg-pop, 



212 THE RE-UNION. 

the procefTion, the Governor, and we hear the 
proclamation, and the artillery falute ; we fee our 
bright pennies and hear their magic jingle — dear 
and fweet recoUedions, never to be forgotten ! 

Traverling thefe ftreets, we have gazed upon 
that antiquarian jewel, which, laft evening, was 
made to dazzle by the cunning of man. We 
have feen, too, with renewed admiration and 
fpell-bound feeling, that claffical gem in archi- 
tefture, founded by a Redwood's liberality. We 
have feen the Mall, preffed the verdant turf, 
luxuriated in the grateful fhade. We paufed 
by the fountain, gufliing forth a fparkling ftream ; 
who lliall fay it will ever flake our third: for our 
" ifland home ? " We have ftood by the Jewilli 
Temple, that myftery of our childhood, which 
reminds us of the generoiity of a " Touro." We 
have flood on yonder beach, and renewed our 
homage to " the glad waters of the dark blue 
fea," whofe beautifully-fringed billows, as they 
broke at our feet, feemed to bid us " welcome." 
Wherever elfe we look, changes are fo great and 
fo apparent, that we are wont to exclaim, 

" There architcdlure's noble pride 
Bids elegance and fplendor rife." 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 



213 



It is here that this " loveHeft gem on the bofom 
of the ocean," fpreads for her votaries her richeft 
and her grandeft banquet. Is it too much to 
fay that there are thoughts in embryo, affociated 
with yonder " Spouting Rock," and its terrible 
conflicts with the iurging billows, which will yet 
be fung with rapture by every Son and Daughter 
of Newport ? Was not Bruce's Addrefs born of 
the rolling thunder and the lightning's flafli ? 

There Hands the dear old Market, through 
whofe arches our youthful eyes have gazed on 
many a joyous fcene. We yield it our grateful 
homage, and may it endure to awaken afrefli the 
early joys of returning pilgrims to their native 
home. 

Mr. Mayor, our hearts glow with a burning 
gratitude, as we thank the municipal authorities, 
and the citizens generally of this city, for their 
affectionate, guardian care over the facred fpot 
which holds the remains of fo many worthies, 
and of thofe near and dear to us. 

Science has limited the firings of the mufical 
harp, but file flirinks from an alike arrangement 
of thofe of the harp of the heart, which, count- 
lefs though they be, vibrate in unifon to-day, 
and echo fvveetly all over and around this 



214 THE RE-UNION. 

lovely fpot, Auld Lang Syne, and Home, fweet 
home. 

Lieutenant Thomas M. Brownell was to 
reply to the toaft complimentary to the " Heroes 
of Lake Erie," and thefe remarks he was prepared 
to offer on the occafion. 

Mr, Frefident^ Ladies^ and Gentlemen : — I rife to 
tender you my unfeigned thanks for the flatter- 
ing comphment juft paid to me, and my young 
friend here, by Dr. Parfons ; alfo, in behalf of our 
abfent comrades — three in number. We, too. 
Sir, were once abfent from little Rhoda. It was 
on the loth of September, 1813, and that fad 
makes us to-day the guells of the city, to fliare 
with you its hofpitalities. 

Sir, the memorable tenth was on that day that 
the gallant Perry led us boys to battle and to 
vidory, and fliowed to an atloniflied world that 
the invincibility of the Englifli lion and its 
wooden walls was broken, and fignally fo ; for, 
on that day, for the firlt and laft time, England 
loft a fleet. And this, it has been (aid, was a 
Rhode Ifland fight. It was ; for Rhode Ifland 
had more officers and men in that battle than 
any other State ; and they were led by that good 
and brave officer, Oliver H. Perry, our fellow 



EVENING FESTIVITIES. 21 C 

townfman. Sir, Rhode Ifland did her duty on 
that day, and will continue ever fo to do, when 
menaced by her own, or her country's enemies. 
Her Sons, I am fure, will be ever proud and 
willing to ftep into the front ranks of danger, 
to defend the State, or the United States; and 
you, who are here gathered together at this 
happy re-union would, if neceffary, flep forward 
in defence of your liberty, gained for you by 
your fathers, and not only do as others have 
done, but far outftrip them in deeds of bravery 
and daring. 

In concluding, Mr. Prefident, permit me to 
offer the following toad : 

The Fair Daughters of Rhode Ifland, irmy they be ever 
happy and bleflbd in fuch a Union as they may choofe. 

The following beautiful lines were contributed 
by Henry T. Tuckerman, Efq., who could not 
be prefent on the occafion : 

Though not thy fon. Oh let me claim to be 
Thy fofter-child, old city by the Tea \ 
For, cradled on thy waters, I have known 
The heart of Nature pulfate to my own; 
Like a loved voice, the fighing of thy trees. 
Swayed by the dalliance of the weflern breeze. 



2l6 THE RE-UNION. 

Tender the greeting from that myflic tide, 
Whofe tepid currents ocean's realm divide j 
Kindred the welcome of the fummer day. 
As flits our bark athwart the peerlefs bay ; 
Cordial the rude embraces of thy wave. 
In whofe refrelhing arms we gaily lave. 
And free our courfc along the crefcent fand 
Whence the broad furgcs limitlefs expand. 
While from their lucent curves the winds at play 
Call on fair cheeks the glillening pearls of fpray. 
And level funbeams crimfon radiance pour 
Through filvcr mifts that veiled the peopled fhore. 
On mill and hayftack mellow luftre throw. 
And bathe the landfcape with an amber glow ! 

Nor lefs endeared the upland where we gaze 
On the gnarled orchard and the twinkling maize. 
And watch afar the inlet'a azure fheeh. 
Like cryfolites each rocky ledge between ; 
And gable roofs whofe cafements ftill betray. 
By fond infcriptions. Love's old holiday. 

The hill whofe grafs-grown ramparts yet declare 
How freedom's champions wreftled with defpair, 
The Druid grove, which hallowed memories grace, 
As Channing's thoughts inveft his dwelHng place; 
The ancient temple in whofe mufic ftill 
The generous heart of Berkeley feems to thrill ; 
The Jews, lone flirine and grave none haunt to weep ; 
The Ihaft that marks where Perry's allies fleep ; 
The Clifl's green marge, yon Doric home of lore; 
The funfet hues that Malbone loved of yore — 
This heritage of nature and of fame. 
Not ^y Jons only, but thy lovers claim. 



( 217) 



CHAPTER X. 

CONCLUSION. 

The Feftival is over, and is now a thing that 
has pafled ; but long, long will the memory of it 
be frefli, not only here, but all over this broad land; 
and wherever the Sons and Daughters who have 
recently affembled in Newport have anchored 
for life, their old home, the place of their birth, 
will be held dearer than ever before. The 
fcenes witneffed during the paft few days can 
never be forgotten ; they will be handed down 
from father to fon, with many another tale of 
this old iiland and its people ; and the boys and 
girls of another generation, filled with the fame 
love and veneration for a fpot lo dear to their 
parents, will deem it a pleafure and a privilege 
to congregate here, as their fathers have recently 
done, and for a limilar purpofe. Born though 
they may be on other foil, they will never lofe 
their allegiance to Rhode Ifland, the fpot where 
their forefathers in peace repofe. 

Nor is the ftrengthening of old ties all the 
19 



2l8 THE RE-UNION. 

good that is to grow out of a re-union, fuch as 
we have witneffed. Better things than even this 
will come of it. The afFedions have not only 
been unlocked, but the whole inner man has 
been deeply ilirred. That vaft affembly was a 
unit, and, when one of their number afked the 
blefTmg of Heaven on the purpofe for which 
they were gathered, three thoufand men and 
women involuntarily rofe, and bowed the head 
in refponfe to thofe folemn words; and eyes, 
unufed to tears, wept as one eloquent fpeaker 
after another vividly called up fcenes in which 
they had all participated, but which, in the 
lapfe of time, had been almoft forgotten. With 
all the joy and pleafure of fuch a meeting, there 
was a ierioufnefs that arretted the attention of 
thofe who were there merely as fpectators, and 
who have fince faid they had a higher refped 
for Rhode Illanders than ever before, high as 
they have ever held them. They have alfo 
attefted to the bearing of the Sons here aflem- 
bled, and the value to be fet on the friendfliip 
and elteem of fuch men. Nor is this furpris- 
ing ; for here were thoufands alfembled, taken 
from all clafles of fociety — men fuddenly called 
from the homes of their adoption to fee each 



CONCLUSION, 



Other, and with no reRraint put upon them but 
that which a fenfe of propriety would didate ; 
and yet, in all that concourfe, there was not one, 
fo far as we have been able to learn, whole 
condud was not creditable to the whole. This, 
we take it, is one of the points on which we 
may dwell with moft pleafure ; for it tells of that 
difcipline of charader, which marked the eady 
fettlers of the colony; men whofe example has 
not been loft on their defendants of to-day. 
And of the fpeakers it was faid, they were in 
earneft; the idea of making a fpeech feemed to 
be the fartheft from their thoughts. They had 
fomething pertinent to fay; and they faid it 
with all their hearts, and with an eloquence, the 
birth of the moment, which carried convidion to 
every ear. 

Many allufions, public and private, have 
fmce been made to the pleafure experienced on 
that day by thofe who were fo fortunate as to 
be prefent, or had we the fpace at command, 
we might infert many of thefe letters and 
printed articles. The following is a private 
letter; but, as it contains that which muft be 
gratifying to every Son of Newport, we hope 
we may be pardoned for introducing it here. 
It is dated Bofton, Auguft 25, 1859 • 



220 THE RE-UNION. 

# * # u £g^ j^g f^y fomething which I have 
not faid before. My pilgrimage to Newport 
has given me the lincereft pleafure, which was 
too much abridged by duties at home. As the 
poet fays of Gilpin, let me fay : 

" And when he next doth ride abroad. 
May I be there to fee." 

Not that I rate my beloved town with that 
hero, nor the re-union with that race of the val- 
iant citizens. O, no. Sir. It was an incident 
in my long life which I will never forget. With 
its memory is affociated my deepeft thanks to 
thofe under w^hofe generous patronage — the city 
and citizens of Newport — and thofe alfo in 
whofe hand were its details. Never was there 
a better work, or one more nobly done. Indi- 
vidually do I feel indebted to them for a high 
and true pleafure, and to all do I render my 
deepeft thanks. 

Accept my true regard, and believe me, very 
truly, yours, 

WALTER CHANNING." 

And we clofe with an extraft from a letter to 
the New York Times, from the pen of fome 
fpeSator unknown to the Committee : 



CONCLUSION. 221 

"Among fome of the (tatements ;nade at the 
re-union, and which your reporter had, doubtlels 
neither fpace nor time to prefent, or which were 
given in the fpeeches dehvered at a late hour of 
the night to the wonderfully patient audience, 
there were fome of general intereft, worth 
noting. 

It was declared that the firft lectures on anat- 
omy and furgery ever delivered in pubhc in 
America, were delivered here by Dr. William 
Hunter ; that the firft inllance of the perform- 
ance of vaccination occurred here ; the iirft build- 
ing to be lighted with gas, in this country, was 
here ; the firll fight of a fleet of the American 
Navy was under the command of, and principally 
manned by, Newport men; the firft feafon of the 
Revolution was that of the taking of the Gafpee, 
in Narraganlett Bay, and that the firil refiftance 
to "taxation without reprefentation " was made 
in a proteft from this Colony ; a copy, and, per- 
haps, the only one exifting of which, is preferved 
in London. 

To thefe ftatements of the paft may be added 
fome memorable fads concerning the Celebra- 
tion itfelf, viz. : 

1. There was more provifion prepared than 
19* 



222 THE RE-UNION. 

even the v^ company could ufe, and all of it 
good. 

2. There was not an accident or difturbance. 

3. There was not, fo far as is known, a lingle 
pocket picked. 

4. There was not any arreft, nor the neces- 
lity for any. 

Whether there is anything unufual in thefe 
fads, every reader of yours will know as well as 
your humble fervant." 



( 2^3 ) 



CHAPTER XI. 



THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 



Every reader of thele pages is probably aware 
that, during the paft year, great changes have 
been made, both in the external appearance 
and the internal arrangements of the Redwood 
Library — changes efFefted through the liberality 
of its numerous friends, and which reflect the 
higheft credit on the tafte and judgment of all 
who have been inftrumental in accomplifliing 
this great end. When the work was brought 
to a clofe, it was decided to commemorate the 
event by an Inaugural Addrefs, to be delivered 
on the day following the Re-union, and Hon. 
George G. King was invited to prepare the 
Addrels ; but, owing to the illnefs of the orator, 
the Celebration had to be poftponed, and we 
here infert a (ketch of the Library, with fome 
account of its early hiftory, which we prepared 
at the time for the Providence Journal, as appro- 
priate to the time and the place. 



224 'the re-union. 

its rise, history, and present condition. 

Newport, August 17, 1859. 

The readers of the Journal^ a year ago, were 
made acquainted with the munificent gift of 
numerous friends of the Redwood Library, who 
generoufly fubfcribed and paid in the hberal 
fum often thoufand dollars, for the enlargement 
and general improvement of the edifice, and the 
increafe of the valuable collection of books. At 
the prefent time, it affords me pleafure to fay 
that the wiflies of the donors have been carried 
out in fpirit, and with a fidelity every way com- 
mendable, and the promoters of fo great a good 
have the hearty thanks of all who are interefted 
in this venerable inftitution. 

How the fum above referred to was raifed, and 
in what way it has been expended, fliall be the 
fubjed of remark to-day. But firft let me devote 
a portion of the fpace alTigned to your correfpon- 
dent, to a general hiftory of the Library, from its 
foundation to the prefent time. Of necefTity, 
the iketch mud be brief; but it will suffice to 
Ihow how the fame noble end may be attained 
in almoft any town of ten or a dozen thoufand 
inhabitants, if a few public- fpirited men, like the 



THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 225 

founders of this Library — the Redwoods, the 
ColHns, Updikes, Scotts, and others affociated 
with them, — would but take the initiative, and 
demonftrate by their own acts the value to be 
placed on a knowledge of books, not only by 
the profeflional fludent, but alfo by men engaged 
in purfuits which are too often fuppofed to in- 
terfere with a general acquaintance with the 
whole field of literature. 

The period in the hiftory of Newport to 
which I am about to refer, was diftinguiflied in 
many ways. Newport at that day was preem- 
inent for its cultivated and refined fociety, 
extended commercial relations, and general pros- 
perity. To this mart men of bufinefs reforted 
from all parts of the country; and here, too, 
affembled diftinguiflied fcholars from abroad, as 
well as from the different feats of learning in our 
own land. Here the ftudent found the fineft 
chemical laboratory in America, and the only 
garden in the country deferving the name of 
Botanical Garden ; here he had accefs to valua- 
ble colleflions of books, not only thofe fent out 
to Trinity Church by the " Society for Propagat- 
ing the Gofpel in Foreign Parts," but alfo the 
private libraries imported at the expenfe of men 



226 THE RE-UNION. 

deeply engaged in commercial purfuits for their 
own improvement ; and here he was introduced 
to a fociety compofed of thefe fame high-minded 
men, affociated with eminent divines, lawyers 
and phyficians, who were in conftant correfpond- 
ence with the moll learned focieties in the mother 
country. Culture, not wealth, was the mark of 
diftindion, and he who could add to the literary 
enjoyment of his friends, was received into the 
body he was fitted to adorn. 

This fociety was eftabliflied in 1730, and owed 
its origin undoubtedly to the prefence of Bifliop 
(then Dean) Berkeley, who, it is well known, 
fpent about two years on the ifland at that period, 
vainly hoping that the promifed grant on the 
part of the Crown for the founding of a univer- 
fity at the Bermudas, would be forthcoming, till 
at laft circumrtances compelled him to abandon 
his project and return to Dublin. His landing 
here, though not accidental, as it has fometimes 
been ftated, was quite unexpeded to the inhabi- 
tants. He was received on the dock by the rec- 
tor and congregation of Trinity Church, and on 
finding himfelf furrounded by men of learning, 
with whom he could affociate with pleafure, he 
decided to remain here for a feafon, and at once 



THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 



227 



joined heartily in their literary purfuits. Mem- 
bers of all denominations were drawn around 
him, and his whole time was devoted to acts of 
benevolence, and the promotion of knowledge. 

It was at this time that the " Society for the 
Promotion of Knowledge and Virtue" was efiab- 
liflied, and this is nearly all the information in 
regard to the Society that we have, for its records 
have been lolt, probably burned, and it was by 
the merefl chance that the names of its founders, 
and its rules and regulations have been faved 
from a hke mifliap. A century after the Society 
was formed, (1813,) a gentleman plucked from 
a burning heap of old papers a diicolored flieet, 
on which was infcribed all that we know of the' 
Society. The papers confumed belonged to 
Judge Edward Scott, an active member of the 
Society, and the fragment faved is in his hand- 
writing, as Moderator of the meeting in 1735. 

The following comprifes the names of the 
original members : Daniel Updike, Peter Bours, 
James Searing, Edward Scott, Henry Collins,' 
Nathan Townfend, Jr., Jeremy Condy, and 
James Honyman, Jr. 

Daniel Updike was the fon of Gilbert Updike, 
a German phyfician, who emigrated to Rhode 



228 THE RE-UNION. 

Ifland from New Amfterdam, (now New York,) 
in 1664. Daniel was educated in his father's 
houfe, and early applied himfelf to the iludy of 
the law, in which profeflion he became diftin- 
guiflied. In Newport he opened an office, and 
here he fubfequently married a daughter of 
Gov. Benedick Arnold. In 1722, he was eleded 
Attorney General, and from that date he was in 
adive public life. With Bifliop Berkeley he 
was intimate ; they vifited Narraganfett to- 
gether, and his biographer, a defcendant, has 
paid a juft tribute to his memory in the Memoirs 
of the Rhode Ifland Bar. 

Peter Bours was a merchant — an importer of 
dry goods — a friend of learning, and not un- 
known in public life. At the time the Library 
was incorporated, he was Firft Affiftant Deputy 
in the General Aflembly ; at the fame time Dan- 
iel Updike was Attorney General, and William 
EUery, (father of the {igner of the Declaration 
of Independence,) an early member of the So- 
ciety, was Lieutenant Governor. 

But little in relation to the Rev. James Sear- 
ing has come down to us, beyond the fad that 
he was eleded Paftor of the Second Congrega- 
tional Church, in 1731, which office he held up 



THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 220 

to the time of his death, in 1755. He was fuc- 
ceeded by Rev. Ezra Styles, who, at the requeft 
(as he himfelf ttates in his Diary, in 1772,) of a 
Committee of the congregation, wrote the fol- 
lowing epitaph, which was engraved on his 
graveftone : 

"Here hes a Chriftlan Minifter, facred to 
whofe Memory the Congregation, late his Pas- 
toral charge, erected this Monument, a teftimony 
to Poderity of their Refped for the amiable 
character of the Rev. James Searing, their late 
venerable Paftor, who was born at Hempftead, on 
Long Ifland, Sept. xxiii, mdcciv. Received a 
hberal education at Yale College ; ordained to 
the paftoral charge of the Church and Chriltian 
Society meeting in Clarke ftreet, Newport, R. I., 

; xxi. MDccxxxL, where he ferved in the 

Chrillian Miniftry xxiv. years, and died Jany vi. 
MDccLv. astat L. He always entertained a 
rational and fober veneration of the Moft High, 
whom he regarded as the Father of the Univerfei 
the Wife Governor and benevolent Friend of 
the Creation. He was a fteady advocate of the 
Redeemer and his Religion ; by recommending 
Virtue and Piety upon Chriftian Principles in 
his public Inftruclions and in his own excellent 
example. His contempt of Bigotry, his exten- 
five Charity and Benevolence, and an exemplary 
goodnefs of Life, juftly endeared him to his 
2o 



230 THE RE-UNION. 

Flock, and not only entitled him, but gained him, 
that very general acceptance and eiteem which 
perpetuates his Memory with deferved Reputa- 
tion and Honor." 



Judge Edward Scott was a lawyer of emi- 
nence, and diftinguiflied for his attainments. I 
have feen it recorded that he was uncle to Sir 
Walter Scott's father. 

Henry Collins was a diftinguiflied merchant 
of Newport — diftinguiflied not only for his fuc- 
cefs in mercantile affairs, but alfo for his learn- 
ing, refined tafte in literature and the fine arts, 
benevolence and devotion to a wife and general 
diffufion of knowledge. He was thirty-one 
years of age, at the time that he affociated with the 
above-named men, for the purpofe of founding 
a Literary and Philofophical Society, aQively 
engaged in bufinefs, and ready, with heart and 
hand, to profper every good and noble work — 
one of the ftrongeft evidences of which was the 
gift of the land on which the Library now 
ftands, then known as Bowling Green, to fecond 
Mr. Redwood's liberal offer, to which I fliall 
prefently have occafion to refer. 

Mr. Collins formed a gallery of paintings — a 



THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 



231 



rare thing in America at that day. Dr. Water- 
houfe, recalling, later in life, the impreffion made 
on him by this Colledion, fays of Henry Collins : 
"He was a wealthy merchant and a man of 
tafte. He caused paintings to be made of Parfon 
Callender, as well as fome other divines, as 
Hitchcock, Clapp, and Dean Berkeley, which 
he often admired in the Collins Collection." 
Tradition alfo fays that moft of thefe portraits 
were painted by Smibert, who vilited this coun- 
try with Berkeley, and it is known that Mr. 
CoUins extended a hearty welcome to, and em- 
ployed the pencil of every artift who touched 
thefe (liores. 

There was another noble trait in the character 
of Mr. Collins, which fliould not go unnoticed. 
Deferving young men, ftruggling with the world, 
and anxious to acquire a liberal education, found 
in him a true friend, and many who, but for this 
timely affiftance, would have paffed through life 
unnoticed, became prominent through their ac- 
quirements, and an ornament to fociety. Every 
meafure, calculated to promote the public good, 
he heartily endorfed, and the extenhon of Long 
Wharf, the building of the Brick Market, now 
the City Hall, and other public works, owed 



232 THE RE-UNION. 

much of their fuccefs to his hberality and coun- 
tenance. But misfortunes fell upon him in his 
latter days — the loffes attendant on the applica- 
tion of the Admiralty rule of '56, led the way to 
bankruptcy in '65, from the • effefts of which he 
never recovered; and a few years later, about 
1770, he died, greatly refpefted and long to be 
remembered for his noble ads, his liberality, and 
his generous culture. 

Of Nathan Townfend, Jr., and Jeremy Condy, 
I know nothing — the names, as affociated with 
the Society, alone remain to us. 

James Honyman, Jr., fon of Rev._ James Hony- 
man, who, for more than fifty years, was redor of 
Trinity Church, was born in Newport, and early 
attained to a prominent pofition in public affairs. 
A Iketch of his life will be found in the Memoirs 
of the Rhode Ifland Bar. He died during the 
time the Britifli troops were on the ifland, and 
was interred in Trinity Churchyard. On the 
ftone placed over his remains, we find this 
tribute to his worth : " He was eminent in his 
profeflion as Attorney at Law, and for many 
years was employed in the moil important offices 
of government." 

Thefe were the men who organized the So- 



THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 233 

ciety, and formed a code for the government cf 
its members. Fortunately, as I have already 
remarked, a copy of these Rules has been pre- 
ferved. They are but little known, and it may 
not be out of place to introduce a few of them 
here, for they have a direct bearing on the hiftory 
of the Redwood Library. 

Article i. The members of the Society 
fliall meet every Monday evening, at the houle 
of one of the members, feriatim, and converfe 
about and debate fome ufeful queftions in Divin- 
ity, Morality, Philofophy, Hiftory, &c. 

Art. 2. The member who propofes the ques- 
tion fliall be moderator, (pro hac vice,) and fee 
that order and decency be maintained in all the 
debates and converfations. 

Art. 3. Every member in order fliall freely 
give his opinion, with his reafons, having liberty 
to explain the fenfe of the queftion, or his own 
expreffion, and to retract or alter his opinion, as 
to him fliall feem right. 

Art. 4. The member at whofe houfe we 
meet fliall propofc a quellion for the next even- 
ing's converfation, the Society to judge of its 
propriety and ufefulnefs, only nothing fliall ever 
be propofed or debated, which is a dillinguifliing 
religious tenet of any one member. 

Art. 5. No member fliall divulge the opinion 
or argument of any particular member, as to any 
20* 



234 THE RE-UNION. 

fubject debated in the Society, on penalty of a 
perpetual exclulion. Neverthelefs, any member 
may gratify the curiolity of any that may inquire 
the names, number, general delign, method and 
laws of the Society, and the opinions and con- 
clulions of the major part, without difcovering 
how any particular member voted. 

Art. 6. The moderator, for the time being, 
fhall keep a book^ in which he fliall regifter 
the queitions and the folutions or anfwers, and 
another for the fines and forfeits that may become 
due. 

Art. 7. The queftion ihall be propounded by 
the moderator, exactly at feven in the evening; 
or, if he be then abfent, another fliall be chofen in 
his room, and whoever lliall come after that ihall 
forfeit one (liilling ; whoever is abfent the whole 
evening (liall forfeit two iliillings and fixpence ; 
only the moderator fliall forfeit double," &c. 

This article is the longeft, and embraces a 
great variety of fines, all of which were to be 
coUefted " every month, and laid out in books, 
&c., as the Society fliall think beft ;" and it was 
this colleftion of books, probably, which was 
the nucleus of the prefent library. 

Bifliop Berkeley was undoubtedly prefent at all 
thefe meetings. The late Hon. W. Hunter, in 
his Centennial Addrefs, (which, by the way, I 



THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 235 

am happy to fay, will fliortly be printed,) fays 
of Berkeley's connection with the Society : 

" He propofed many of its themes ; he took 
a referved and dignified iliare in its conferences ; 
he derived an exquifite happinefs, much lefs 
from his own confcioufnefs of fuperiority, than 
from an opportunity for difcovering and devel- 
oping nafcent literary talent, and confirming and 
invigorating every germ of rational faith and 
Chriftian charity. Under a leader and leQurer 
like Berkeley, he, the prefiding genius, it is 
hardly to be doubted that this, the oral, is the 
beft mode of inilrudion. The Society felt but 
little need of books when he was prefent. When 
withdrawn, it was natural, in the abfence of 
Socrates, to a(k for the Memorabilia of Xeno- 
phon, the Dialogues of Plato, and the Treatifes 
of Ariftotle. 

Berkeley, therefore, was the remote, not the 
proximate caufe of the Inftitution, (the Redwood 
Library,) and this opinion is confirmed by after 
facts. He praifed and loved Rhode Ifland. He 
refers to it, and its inhabitants, in his letters, 
with affectionate regard. He even thinks it a 
more eligible fite than Bermuda, for the promo- 
tion of his great fcheme of educating and evan- 
gelizing the native Indians. But in clofing his 
affairs here, he beftowed a large portion of his 
own valuable library on the Univerfities of Cam- 
bridge and Yale, and on the laft his White Hall 



236 THE RE-UNION. 

eftate, on this ifland. Had the plan of a hbrary 
been matured, or even held up in hopeful prom- 
ife, it is fairly prefumable thele gifts would have 
been, in fome degree, otherwife direded." 

We have feen, then, how the prefent So:iety 
was formed, who were the leading fpirits, and in 
what way a colledion of bocks was commenced. 
In 1735, the number of members had increafed 
from fix to twenty-four, nearly all of whom were 
prominent men, and fome of them are known to 
hiftory. The fines exacted, in Article Seventh, 
probably amounted to confiderable fums, which 
were expended in books; and, in 1747, Abra- 
ham Redwood conceived the happy idea of 
founding a public library. To promote this, he 
generoufly offered to beftow five hundred pounds 
ilerling for the purchafe of books, if a fufficient 
fum could be raifed to erect a fuitable building 
for their reception. Henry Collins, as already 
ftated, fubfequently tendered a lot of land for a 
fite, and in a fliort time five thoufand pounds 
were fubfcribed, by different citizens of the town, 
for the eredion of a handfome edifice. The 
Library was incorporated the fame year, and the 
following year the eredion of the prefent library 
building was commenced, under the diredion of 



( 



THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 



237 



Peter Harrifon,* and completed In 1749. Har- 
rifon was diltlnguiflied in his profefTion, and of 
him Mr. Hunter thus fpeaks : 

" He had been the affiftant architect of Van- 
burgh in the erection of the Duke of Marlborough's 
palace at Woodftock. He was undeniably a 
man of fcience and tafte. Survey the public 
and private buildings of this era. Trinity 
Church, the North Market, the State Houfe, 
the Malbone Town Houfe, the Wanton Houfe, 
the Matthew Cozzens, now the Collins Houfe, 
disfigured as they all have been by time, by the 
fpoliations of war, and by modern improve- 
ments. Any inveftigator, comparing them with 
what exifted in any capital of any one of the colo- 
nies at xhtfame ti?ne, muft admit in this age, what 
was cheerfully admitted in that, that little pre- 
cocious Rhode Ifland proper ilood at leaft equal 
to any : and this comparifon is unaided by any 
reference to the Malbone Country Houfe, which 
preceded them all in point of time, and furpaffed 
them all in tafteful magnificence. It is evident 
there were at this era of 1747, allowing half a 
generation on each fide of it, the moneyed and 
the mental means, the tafte, (and, if you will 
moralize,) the profufion and the reckleflhefs to 
do all this." 

* The name of Jofeph Harrifon has been inferted acciden- 
tally on the tablet in the library edifice. 



238 THE RE-UNION. 

The edifice confifted of a principal building 
with a fmall wing on each fide, ranging in a line 
with the weft end of the building, the front, 
which is ornamented with a portico, fuftained by 
four finely-proportioned columns. In form, and 
in nearly all its details, the building is in the 
ftyle of the Roman Doric, with a flight admix- 
ture of the Ionic in the rear. The plan of the 
building, as contraQed for, is preferved in the 
library, with that for the recent enlargement, and 
it has been afcertained that the purpofe of the 
founders was to have it enlarged much after the 
manner recently adopted, lliould the increafe of 
the library at any future day warrant it. 

And here I lliould fay a few words in regard 
to Abraham Redwood, whofe liberality has fur- 
niflied, for more than a century, the means of 
culture for the many who have appreciated his 
generous devotion to the caufe of learning. It 
would be a pleafure to know more of him than 
has come down to us. His portrait graces the 
library walls, but of his perfonal hiftory we know 
but little. He was born in Antigua, where he 
poffelTed a large fugar plantation, Calfada Gar- 
den, which yielded him an income of from 
£4000 to £7000 fterling. He was educated in 



THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 239 

Philadelphia in a manner befitting one of his 
fortune and expectations in life. AttraQed to 
Newport, he became enamored of Martha Cogge- 
lliall, to whom he was united in marriage before 
he was twenty years of age, and here he relided 
during the remainder of his life, " in a ftyle of 
opulence," fays Dr. Waterhoufe, " becoming his 
fortune, mixed with the elegant iimplicity of 
the Quaker." 

From the fame fource we gather the following 
facts in relation to this diftinguiflied man : 

" His town houfe and country houfe indicated 
the riches and tafte of the owner ; his botanical 
garden was ftored with curious and foreign, as 
well as valuable indigenous plants, in either hot 
or green-houfes or in the open air. 

While he indulged himfelf and friends in 
thefe rational amulements, he was not unmindful 
of the indigent and unfortunate. Induftrious 
young men, itruggling on to obtain a comforta- 
ble livelihood for themfelves, were objeds of his 
peculiar regard. His munificence was not con- 
fined, however, to the fcenes of ordinary life, but 
took fo wide a range as to rank him with the 
Harvards, Yales and Berkeleys. 

The medical part of them (the books pur- 
chafed by Mr. Redwood) were excellent. They 
were amply fufficient to give the medical ftuden^ 



240 



THE RE-UNION. 



competent Information of all that was then 
known in the Engliili language on anatomy, 
furgery, chemiftry, and botany, together with the 
liiilory of drugs, and their various preparations 
and ufes, with the hiibry of the progrefs of 
phyfic, from Hippocrates to Boerhaave. 

After receiving fome donations from certain 
individuals, it was deemed the fecond beft col- 
ledion of Engliili books in New England. It 
was the Redwood Library that rendered reading 
fafliionable throughout the little community of 
Rhode Ifland, during feventy or eighty years. 
It diffufed a knowledge of general and particular 
hiftory, geography, and ethics. It opened to the 
youth of both lexes an acquaintance with an- 
tiquity; it gave them a knowledge of Greece 
and Rome, with Afia, modern Europe, the Eng- 
liili claffics, and the belles-lettres generally; it 
fowed the feeds of the iciences, and rendered the 
inhabitants of Newport, if not a learned, yet a 
better read and inquiiitive people than any other 
town in the Britiili Colonies, and this was owing 
to the judicious liberality of Abraham Redwood." 

To Mr. Hunter's Centennial Addrefs we turn 
once more, and there find, in the clofely written 
pages, thefe glowing words : 

" He (Abraham Redwood) gave freely and 
deliberately. He needed no prompter. He 



THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 



241 



gave in his lifetime. He was his own ahnoner 
and truftee. He directed the apphcation of his 
own gift to its true ufes. He hved to fee his own 
beneficent purpofes effeduated. Such a procedure 
avoids all the difficulties and dangers of death- 
bed devises or donations, and obviates or ren- 
der inapplicable all fatire againft legacy-hunting, 
and all declamations againil: property in mort- 
main. Do you aik for Abraham Redwood the 
pomp of eulogy ? Do you call upon me to 
read, from the golden letters of a lofty and 
highly wrought monument, a grandiloquent epi- 
taph of this meek adherent of Barclay and 
Penn*? You aik for what is inappropriate and 
inconfiftent. T^his is his monument, and without 
the formality of the outward inicription, we 
claim from your inward intellectual emotions the 
juftice of the application of that lb judicioufly 
beftowed upon Sir Chriftopher Wren, the re- 
nowned archited of St. Paul's in London — 
''Lector, ft monumentum qii^ris, circumfpice!' Do 
you aflv for a moment ? look around you." 

Turning to another fource for information — 
the unpubliilied Diary of Rev. Dr. Styles, now 
depoiited in the library of Yale College — for 
information in relation to the library, and Mr. 
Redwood's connedion with it, we find this curi- 
ous palTage : 

21 



242 THE RE-UNION. 

" This fet out as a Quaker affair ; Mr. Red- 
wood being a Friend, advifed [and] influenced 
by his Br. in Law, Thos. Ward, Efq., a DeiiH- 
cal Baptift ; both thefe Gentl. really defigned it 
llid. be Catholic & without refped of Teds. Thro' 
the blindnefs of Mr. Redwood & Ward & Cal- 
lender (the 2 laft men of great Learning and 
Penetration,) the Epifcopalians flily got into it & 
obtained a Majority wh. they are careful to keep. 
At firft of 46 but 18 were Epifco. In 2y 
of 91 members 43 were Epifco. Since this they 
are become a Majority. But no body obferves 
it but the Founder. The Founder has often 
told me of it, & faid it was contrary to his Inten- 
tion; & that this was one reafon of his refuling 
to fit in the DireSors' Meetings." 

The above appears in the Diary under date of 
January 16, 1773, and will, undoubtedly, be 
new to all who are interefted in the library at 
this day. 

The firit meeting of the Library Company 
after their incorporation, was held in September, 
1747, at which time the following gentlemen 
were chofen officers of the inftitution : Abraham 
Redwood, FreQdc?it ; Rev. James Honyman, 
Rev. John Callender, Henry Collins, Edward 
Scott, Samuel Wickham, John Tillinghaft, and 
Peter Bours, Directors ; Jofeph Jacob, ^reafurer; 



THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 243 

Edward Scott, Librarian ; and Thomas Ward, 
Secretary, 

On the fourth of the following July, the Di- 
redors prefented a catalogue of the books they 
propofed to purchafe in London ; the order was 
fent out with Mr. Redwood's draft for £500 
fterling, and in return, the Company received 
about twenty-five hundred volumes. This cata- 
logue, with the lift of the ftockholders at that 
time, has happily been preferved. 

I have already freely drawn from Mr. Hun- 
ter's addrefs, for the reafon that it has never ap- 
peared in print, and was only heard in 1847 by 
a favored few who were prefent at that time. 
Turning to it again, I give here his opinion of 
these books : 

" The books this five hundred pounds purchas- 
ed in 1747, were fuch as our forefathers deemed 
of ufeful literature. There were among them 
men who had breathed the clalTic atmoiphere, 
not only of our own Cambridge and Yale, but of 
the elder Cambridge, and who had trod the quad- 
rangles of fome of the colleges of Oxford. The 
original invoice is for fcholars not only a curi- 
ofity, but a relic. There are fome books there 
that muft be reverenced, as one of the elder 
church would reverence the bones of bleffed 
martyrs." 



244 THE RE-UNION. 

And here I find that I muft retrench, left my 
intereft in the fubjed before me will lead my pen 
to undue length, if I have not already exceeded 
the limits affigned to a fingle article. I have 
traced the rife and formation of the Company, 
and for a period of nearly, or quite, thirty years 
it profpered. Its laws and regulations were 
drawn up by Daniel Updike, James Honyman, 
Jr., Thomas Ward, and Matthew Robinfon, and 
early in its hiftory, (1759,) Rev. Ezra Styles 
was eleded honorary member, and in the follow- 
ing year he became Librarian, which office he 
filled during a period of twenty years, almoft 
living in the Library, where " he wrote many of 
his learned, not controVerfial,- letters, addreffed to 
the heads of Jefuit Colleges, to Jewifli Rabbis, 
and to Prelidents of learned focieties — letters 
written in Latin or Hebrew." 

But the war of the Revolution came on, and 
the Library, as well as everything elfe in Newport, 
felt its blighting influence. The Company was 
completely broken up, for its members had no 
tafte for fcenes of ftrife, ' and early fought out 
more retired places for their homes. They were 
fcattered, never to return, and the library edifice, 
left without a proteding hand, was defecrated by 



THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 245 

foreign troops, who carried off the books of en- 
tertainment, leaving Httle elfe than foHos on 
ferious fubjeds; but when this came to the 
knowledge of Gen. Prefcott, to his honor be it 
dated, he had a fentinel flationed there to pro- 
ted it from further injury. 

After the war, the town was greatly deprefled ; 
enough, however, has been written of thefe times 
to jultify me in pafTmg over that period without 
further comment. No one had then a tafte for 
reading, for every one had to exert himfelf to 
fecure a bare fubliitence, and of the early friends 
of the Library, few, if any, remained. In 1788, 
Abraham Redwood died, in the feventy-ninth 
year of his age, and this was another ferious lofs 
to the inftitution, which, after that event, fell 
almoil into complete difufe. From the obituary 
notice of Mr. Redwood, made at that time, we 
make the following extract : 

He founded the Library in this town. He 
fubfcribed largely to a college, to be built in this 
State, on condition that it lliould be eftablillied 
in the county of Newport. He fubfcribed five 
hundred pounds iterling towards a univerfity, 
propofed to be erected in this town; and he 
offered the fame fum to the Society of Friends, 
21* 



246 THE RE-UNION. 

of which he was a member, to endow a fchool 
in this place, for the inftrudion of Friend's chil- 
dren. His lefs pubHc acts of generofity will be 
gratefully remembered by thofe on whom they 
were conferred, and the poor will never forget 
that Abraham Redwood was their conftant friend 
and benefactor." 

The Library was in this neglected state when 
James Ogilvie, Efq., a native of Scotland, and a 
man of learning, vifited Newport, in 1810. He 
at once became interefted in the Library, ex- 
prefled furprife at its ftate, and volunteered to 
give a courfe of lectures in its behalf, on the fub- 
jed of literature. He was very eloquent, and 
his generofity was not thrown away, for the in- 
habitants, having recovered fomewhat from the 
(hock of the Revolution, needed only a guide 
to turn their attention once more to literature. 
A paper of earneil: folictitation was drawn up by 
the late Hon. William Hunter, reminding his 
fellow-townfmen of their duty, and the Library 
again became a place of refort. But it had 
nothing of the fpirit that marked its early hiftory, 
and Dr. Channing fays of it, at that period, 

" It was fo deferted that I ipent day after day, 
and fometimes week after week, amidft its dufty 



THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 247 

volumes, without interference from a fingle 
vifitor." 

In 1813, Solomon South wick, Efq., of Albany, 
formerly of Newport, gave to the Library one 
hundred and twenty acres of land in the State of 
New York. Abraham Redwood, Efq., of Dorfet 
Place, Marylebone, England, Baron Hottinguer, 
a diftinguiflied banker of Paris, and others, lince 
then, not forgetting King George IV., have made 
donations to the Library. The laft, and moft 
important of thefe, is a coUedion of paintings, 
chiefly portraits of diftinguiflied perfons, painted 
and prefented by Charles B. King, Efq., of 
Wailiington, a native of Newport, deeply inter- 
efted in the Library. 

Art has its miflion, and it is fitting that an in- 
ftitution, devoted to the diffulion of knowledge, 
fliould recognize its claims, and aid in the pro- 
motion of its end. Pictures and (latuary are not 
deligned to addrefs the eye alone; they have a 
nobler purpofe, and, if rightly valued, they will 
become a fource of pure delight. Men require 
to be led to the ftudy of the'beautiful, and works 
of art, rightly conceived and harmonioully ar- 
ranged, are our belt inftruSors, for they elevate 



248 THE RE-UNION. 

the charafter, enlarge our views, and give a dis- 
relifh for meaner pleafures. 

It is Goethe, who reminds us that the ufeful 
encourages itfelf, for the multitude produce it, 
and no one can difpenfe with it ; but the beau- 
tiful muft be encouraged, for few can fet it forth, 
and many need it. The beautiful, in all its 
forms, is juft as effential to our happinefs as it 
was to the German poet; and whilft the friends 
of the Library cannot but regret that its limited 
refources, fo far from admitting of the purchafe 
of works of art, force the inftitution to rely 
wholly on the generolity of the public for dona- 
tions of this kind, it is pleafant to refleft that its 
wants have not paffed unheeded, nor are we 
left without the affurance of frefli accefHons to 
the gallery at fome future day. 

I have now noted fome of the leading features 
in the hiftory of the Library, from the date of 
its organization down to the prefent time. In 
1855, the new movement commenced, the fub- 
jed having been brought up at the annual meet- 
ing of that year. A gentleman, who has taken 
a very prominent part in all that has been done 
to bring about this great change, fuggefted the 
propriety of making an earned effort to place the 



THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 249 

Library on a more ufeful and popular bafis, 
which could be done by opening the Library 
daily, and by taking active meafures to increafe 
its influence; and he even went fo far as to ex- 
prefs the belief that the fum of ten thoufand 
dollars could be raifed, if a determined and 
organized effort were made. This was a bold 
projed for an old, confervative inftitution, like 
the Redwood, to take up, but a committee was 
appointed to confider the be ft means of carrying 
out thefe views, and, at an adjourned meeting, 
the chairman, in behalf of the committee, re- 
ported that they were fully prepared to fay that 
the plan fuggefted was fealible, if met in the 
right fpirit ; that there was a call for a larger and 
freer accefs to the books owned by the Company, 
and that it feemed but right and juft that the 
few who held fo large an amount of property, 
principally handed down from father to fon, 
fliould not ftand in the way of a wider and more 
general diffufion of knowledge. 

It was alfo fliown that the proprietors, num- 
bering only about one hundred, held property 
valued at twenty-five thoufand dollars, including 
the Library building, cafh inverted, and eight 
thoufand volumes and works of art. Thefe 



2^0 THE RE-UNION. 

books were acceffible to a very limited number of 
perfons, who only had the privilege of vifiting 
the Library two or three times a week, for two 
brief hours on each Hbrary-day, and the diredors, 
having but limited refources at their command 
to meet the current expenfes, could annually 
expend but little in the purchase of new books. 

Thefe, and other points, I cannot here intro- 
duce, were difcuffed at length, and finally it was 
propofed that four hundred certificates of new 
flock iliould be iffued, at the value of $25, for 
the purpofe of raifing §10,000, and, to the credit 
of all concerned, it was voted that it is expedient 
to iffue the above ftock. 

This was the fird great ftep — a ftep that, in 
itfelf, feemed like a mountain to many, whilft to 
others who were more fanguine, and, confe- 
quently, more earned, it was the opening wedge 
that would prepare the way for the mod benefi- 
cial refults. A circular was immediately pre- 
pared, setting forth the condition of the Library 
at that time, reviewing its hidory in brief, and 
calling for a liberal refponfe on the part of the 
public. This refponfe, at the dart, was not as 
liberal as had been anticipated, and when the 
financial crifis came on, all further efforts were 



THE REDWOOP LIBRARY. 25I 

arrefted for the time being. One gentleman had 
headed the paper with the fum of one thoufand 
dollars, and he was followed by a number of 
others, who were alfo liberal, but fo late as 
Auguft 18, 1858, it was ftated, at a fpecial meet- 
ing convened for the purpofe, that lefs than half 
the amount had been fubfcribed, and unlefs ac- 
tive meafures were taken to complete the fum 
by the firft of September, the thoufand dollars 
above referred to, would be withdrawn. The 
fpirit with which the work was puflied forward 
from this time was equal to the emergency, and 
before the time allowed had expired, the hand- 
fome fum of ten thoufand dollars had been 
fubfcribed. 

The number of fubfcribers for this new ilock 
was about one hundred and thirty ; and the 
library Company, in accepting the money, was 
bound to comply with the following conditions 
— to enlarge and improve the building; to open 
it daily at all feafons of the year ; and to make 
fuch additions of books and general reading 
matter as would place the inftitution on a more 
popular and fubilantial bafis. Proper fteps were 
immediately taken to carry out the views of the 
donors, and the direftors were empowered to aft 



252 THE RE-UNION. 

for the beft intereft of the Hbrary. An architeft 
was accordingly employed to draft plans for an 
enlargement of the building, which were ac- 
cepted, and the work, with the amount abforbed 
in improving the grounds, and its furniture, is 
about eight thoufand dollars. Five thoufand 
dollars were alfo placed at the difpofal of the 
book committee, who have found it a laborious 
work to make up the deficiencies in the feveral 
departments, and, at the fame time, keep up 
with the current literature of the day. The 
books ordered are not all here, but the Hbrary 
building has been completed, and is now open 
to the public, — a place of great refort, and one 
of the chief ornaments of the town. The old 
library room is again ftocked with books, and 
additional fpace has been fecured by extending 
the wings parallel with the main building. On 
each fide of the entrance door there is a fmall 
room — one for the Hbrarian and his alTiftants, 
and the other for the direSors. In the rear, and 
extending acrofs what was the principal room, is 
the addition provided for a reading room — 
twenty-fix by fifty feet, and nineteen feet in 
height, lighted by a dome and windows on each 
end. This beautiful room is handfomely fur- 



THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 253 

iiiflied, and its walls are adorned with nearly one 
hundred paintings. The tables are iupplied 
with the leading news and literary papers of the 
day, and the beft magazines and reviews. In 
this room converfation and reading aloud are 
prohibited ; but, in the library room, one can 
converfe with his friends, if fo difpofed. There 
is alfo a commodious delk, with writing mate- 
rials at hand, a fuggeftion book, a bulletin, Sic, 
&c., and here ladies and gentlemen daily con- 
gregate to read and to enjoy all the privileges of 
the inftitution. 

And now I mufi: bring this lengthy article to 
a clofe. There are many objeds of intereft in 
the library of which I may fpeak hereafter ; but 
I will not tax your readers' patience any further 
to-day, if you will allow me to touch on only 
one more point connected with this new move- 
ment. Many of the gentlemen who have fub- 
fcribed liberally towards the ten thoufand dol- 
lars have no ufe for more than one or two of 
the lliares belonging to them, and they have 
accordingly difpofed of them in ways calculated 
to do the moft good. One gentleman has 
placed eighteen fliares in the hands of the dired- 
ors, to be rented to defer ving young men, who 
23 



254 "^HE RE-UNION. 

will pay the annual tax for the privileges of the 
library; another has provided for the public 
fchool teachers and the mod: deferving fcholars 
in the high fchools, and fo on, each one chooling 
fome way in which to turn his inveftment to 
good account. And if Abraham Redwood and 
Henry Collins could look in on their fuccelfors, 
to-day, they would fee that they were actuated by 
the fame defire to promote good, and extend to 
all facilities for acquiring knowledge. Nor is this 
all ; for all parties are pleafed with what has 
been done ; and how could it be otherwife ? 
Thofe who have contributed the means are grat- 
ified to fee a great enterprife carried through 
fuccefsfuUy, and thofe who have heretofore had 
no intereil in the library now feel themfelves 
identified with it, and are anxious to promote 
its welfare. Under thefe circumilances, the 
work will profper, and the refining influence of 
a familiarity with books will be wide-fpreading, 
till all claffes are brought within its fcope. Of 
this we are fanguine : but who fliall picture the 
future, now fo pleafingly forefliadowed ? 

AOUIDNECK. 



NAMES. 



The following names were regiftered by Returned Sons 
and Daughters of the Ifland of Rhode Ifland, at the time of 
the Re-union, in a book prepared for that purpofe, at the 
Mayor's Office. There were many other natives in the city, 
at the Celebration, who were unable to regiller their names 
for want of time. 

RHODE ISLAND. 



John Read, 
Mary E. Sherman, 
Fanny R. Sherman, 
Mrs. Phila WiUiamfon, 
WiUiam Horfewell, 
Thomas G. Hazard, 
John O. Peckham, 
Ann R. Ellery, 
James H. Clarke, 



Providence, 



South Kingfton, 
Eail Greenwich, 
Providence, 



256 



THE RE-UNION. 



Jofeph Albro, 


North Providence, 


Mrs. Cromwell Turner, 


Providence, 


William Cromwell Turner, 


a 


George F. Boone, 


t( 


Edward V. Wellcott, 


C( 


Robinlbn P. Gardner, 


South Kingfton, 


Sarah E. Rounds, 


Providence, 


Frederick A. Stanhope, 


(( 


Charles E. Hubbard, 


u 


John Pratt, 


Gloucefter, 


Sarah A. Williams, 


Providence, 


Harriett G. Marfli, 


(6 


Abby Arnold Stocker, 


(( 


William H. Weftcott, 


(( 


John S. Palmer, 


U 


Henry A. Heath, 


(( 


Nichollbn W. Bufli, 


(( 


Ifaac N. Stoddard, 


South Scituate» 


Sufan D. Brownell, 


Providence, 


Peleg S. Sherman, 


(( 


Sarah A. Sherman, 


a 


William Cornell Barker, 


(C 


Sarah A. Barker, 


(( 


Julia A. Stowe, 


it 


Peleg Sherman, 


u 


Sarah Southwick, 


n 



NAMES. 



257 



Catharine M. Pennell, 
Eliza Pitman, 
Mary A. Burdick, 
Thatcher T. Gardner, 
James Tilley, 
EHzabeth P. Oxx, 
Sarah E. Peck, 
Sarah J. Read, 
John Read, Jr., 
F. Coggefliall, Jr., 
Ann E. Williams, 
Sarah R. Goff, 
Addilbn W. GofF, 
Eleanor E. GofF, 
Mrs. Nancy Lake, 
Mrs. Pamelia Aldrich, 
Mary J. Wilfon, 
Mary C. Jouvett, 
Eliza J. Herman, 
Benedid Dayton, 
Benedid Dayton, Jr., 
William Albert Dayton, 
Robert N. Burdick, 
Thomas G. Hazzard, 
Thomas L. Albro, 
Margaret L. Arnold, 
23* 



Providence, 



South Kingfton, 
Eaft Greenwich, 
Providence, 



Warren, 
Providence, 



Eaft Greenwich, 

Providence, 

Hopkinton, 



Providence, 
South Kingfton, 
Prudence, 
Providence, 



250 THE RE-UNION. 


Rebecca Reynolds, 


Providence, 


Louifa Ambrofe, 


tt 


Stephen A. Gardner, Jr., 


Kingfton, 


Edward L. Barker, 


Providence, 


Jofeph E. Cranfton, 


(( 


Stephen A. Robinfon, 


South Kingfton, 


Annie E. Tilley, 


Briftol, 


Adahne Glines, 


Providence, 


Amanda D. Cornell, 


a 


Darius D. Buffum, 


Woonsocket, 


Samuel D. Walden, 


Providence, 


Harriett W. Allen, 


(( 


Sarah S. Oxx, 


(( 


George C. Townfend, 


u 


W. H. Hudfon, 


(( 


Sarah T. Wilbour, 


(( 


James E. Boone, 


a 


Mary G. Henderfon, 


a 


Benjamin H. Wilbour, 


u 


Maria R. Wilbour, 


a 


Emily N. Wilbour, 


(( 


Maria H. Wilbour, 


(6 


Clara R. Clarke, 


(( 


James Mumford, 


(( 


George M. Coit, 


Briftol, 


Mercey B. Saunders, 


Providence, 



NAMES. 



259 



Samuel Billings, 
Thomas H. Stedman, 
Mary E. Champlin, 
Eliza W. Allen, 
William B. Spooner, 
Deziah S. Hoard, 
Sarah P. Hoard, 
Lydia Vincent, 
John B. Manchefter, 
John C. Clarke, 
Eliza Coit, 
Mary Gladding, 
Henry A. Clarke, 
Hannah M. Barker, 
Jane J. Olds, 
Emma L. Webfter, 
Cyrus Peckham, 
Phebe Ann Gray, 
Henry Burroughs, 
Richard Palmer, 
Jofeph L. Burroughs, 
Thomas Yates, 
Simeon W. Pike, 
Arnold James, 
Franklin James, 
John Tripp, Jr., 



Barrington, 
Rocky Brook, 
South Kingfton, 
Providence, 

Brirtol, 

Providence, 
Briftol, 
Providence, 
Fall River, 
Briftol, 

Fall River, 
South Kingfton, 
Providence, 
South Kingfton, 

Little Compton, 
Providence, 



Prudence Ifland, 
Providence, 



200 THE P.E-UNION. 


Cynthia A. Cooley, 


Providence, 


Abby P. Herman, 


(( 


George Irifli, 


Hopkinton, 


John H. Taylor, 


Providence, 


Andrew Allen, 


Fall River, 


William F. Lawton, 


Providence, 


Sufan Burdick, 


South Kingfton, 


Margaret W. Hubbard, 


Woonfocket, 


Sufan Difley, 


Providence, 


George Difley, 


(( 


Benjamin T. Albro, 


Prudence Ifland, 


'"^ Eliza Ann Clarke 


Providence, 


Catharine Chace, 


(( 


Eliza W. Dennis, 


Portfmouth, 


Anna C. Talbot, 


Providence, 


Mary E. Clarke, 


66 


Sarah J. Robinfon, 


(6 


Harriett D. Skinner, 


Briftol, 


Harriet Fowler, 


Providence, 


Hattie B. Fowler, 


66 


T. Ada Fowler, 


66 


Sarah Rounds, 


66 


John Vaughn, 


66 


Edward S. Lyon, 


66 


Elizabeth A. Lyon, 


66 


Mary O. Simmons, 


Little Compton, 



NAMES. 



261 



Eliza B. Lyman, 


Providence, 


William B. Rider, 


(( 


Mary T. Hathaway, 


t' 


Henry H. Burrington, 


a 


Charles B. Burrington, 


it 


Samuel S. Wilfon, 


a 


Mary A. Chafe, 


a 


Hannah T. Lifcomb 


44 


William T. Bull, 


Kingfton, 


Julia A. Draper, 


Providence, 


Mary E. Wool fey, 


44 


Lydia A. Dawley, 


44 


Henry V. Swan, 


44 


Edward Stanhope, 


Eaft Greenw 


Hannah E. Spencer, 


44 44 


William Gurney, 


Providence, 


Sufan C. Cleaveland, 


44 


Cynthia Gladding, 


Briftol, 


Charles P. Bring, 


Fall River, 


Henry Taylor, 


Cranfton, 


Mary Francis Taylor, 


44 


Edward T. Allen, 


Providence, 


Mary C. Bowen, 


44 


Dutee J. Pearce, 


Wefterly, 


Rowland R. Hazard, 


Providence, 


Eugene E. Hammett. 


4& 



262 



THE RE-UNION. 



Henrietta G. Hammett, 
Ifaac Hazzard, 
Cornelius Nichols, 
William H. Henderfon, 
Mrs. James Young, 
Jofeph Seymour, 
C. W. B. Bennett, 
Wm. John Tilley, 
Samuel N. Burroughs, 
Benedid Peckham, 
Angennele C. Barker, 
Caroline F. Waldron, 
William H. Townfend, 
Amelia S. Townfend, 
Benjamin Albro, 
William Vernon, 
George W. Taylor, 
Gardner Thomas, 
Hannah L. Eaftbrooks, 
Mary E. Spooner, 
Mary Cooke, 
Joanna F. McKenzie, 
Samuel S. Gladding, 
Sufan Dennis. 
Richmond W. Dennis, 
Charles E. Dennis, 



Providence, 
North Providence, 
Peacedale, 
Providence, 

Warren, 
Providence, 



Smithfield, 

Warren, 

Briftol, 

Providence, 

Warren, 

Middletown, 

Providence, 

Briftol, 

Jameilown, 

Warwick, 

Providence, 

Pawtucket, 

Briftol, 



NAMES. 



263 



Mary E. Dennis, 


Portfmouth, 


William R. Dennis, 


a 


William B. Heniliaw, 


Providence, 


Albert W. Luther, 


Jameftown, 


Lydia R. Penno, 


Providence, 


Rebecca A. Gray, 


a 


Mary C. Cornell, 


(6 


William C. Tilley, 


(( 


John E. T<nwton, 


Cranfton, 


W. S. Patten, 


Providence, 


Eliflia A, Durfee, 


u 


Samuel B. Durfee, 


C( 


Benjamin C. Hubbard, 


(C 


Charles H. Lewis, 


(( 


John P. Mumford, 


(( 


Cyrus W. Johnfon, 


(( 


John H. Peckham, 


Eail: Greenwich, 


Gertrude E. Ambrofe, 


Providence, 


Anna E. Ambrofe,^ 


(( 


Mary A. Brown, 


(( 


Clariffa T. Lindfey, 


4C 


Phebe A. Saunders, 


ii 


Phebe M. Cook, 


Warren, 


Charlotte V. Hamlin, 


Providence, 


Samuel P. Crins, 


CC 


Louisa A. Tibbets, 


cc 



264 



THE RE-UNION. 



Annie C. Crins, 
Jofeph Dewick, 
Jane Melville 
James P. Siffon, 
M. C. Taylor, 
Theodore Ambrofe, 
Wm. H. Ambrofe, 
Jofeph S. Richardfon, 
James H. Blifs, 
Hannah L. Weeks, 
Jacob G. Anthony, 
Harriett M. Billings, 
Hannah Cottrell, 
Eliza S. Stockford, 
Charles Prior, 
Oliver E. Greene, 
James Eldred, 
Cornelius S. Greene, 
Peleg C. Anthony, 
Elizabeth EUery, 
Phila D. Taylor, 
Elizabeth C. Garland, 
Jofeph Congdon, 
Gideon Barker, 
Mary A. Spink, 
Charles Lawton, 



Providence, 



Eaft Greenwich, 
Providence, 



Cranfton, 

South Kingfton. 

Providence, 

Eaft Greenwich, 

Providence. 

Wefterly, 

Warren, 

Providence, 

Wickford, 

Eaft Greenwich, 

South Kingfton, 

Providence, 

Scituate, 

Warren, 

Wickford, 

Providence, 



NAMES. 



265 



John D. Tuell, 


Warren, 


E. S. Thurfton, 


Providence, 


John Wanton Lyman, 


# 


M. G. Ellis, 


Briftol, 


Harriett L. Stanton, 


(.i 


Abby Stanton, 


a 


James A. McKenzie, 


Tiverton, 


Catharine M. Goddard, 


Coventry, 


Cyrus B. Peckham, 


Smithfield, 


Anna E. Kenyon, 


Providence, 


Lavanah M. Kenyon, 


(( 


Annie E. Fofter, 


(( 


Jofeph Almy, 


Smithfield, 


Jofeph Coit, 


Briftol, 


John P. Dunbar, 


Providence, 


James G. Keith, 


Portfmouth, 


George Sears Rathbone, 


Providence, 


Howard Smith, 


Kingfton, 


John B. Wilfon, 


Providence, 


Caroline Eailerbrooks, 


(( 


Martha Hill, 


Cranfton, 


Edward C. Cranfton, 


Woonfocket, 


Mrs. S. H. Thomas, 


Providence, 


Mrs. Mary A. Townfend, 


(( 


Mrs. Sarah Belph, 


Briftol, 


Mrs. Martha B. Lawton, 


Providence, 


24 





266 



THE RE-UNION. 



Abby Prenfort, 

Charlotte Douglafs, 

C. E. Richards, 

James Warner, 

Cyrus Peckham, 

William L. Williams, 

William H. GofFe, 

Lydia E. Thompfon, 

Abby G. Anthony, 

John T. Anthony, 

George A. Mumford, 

Sarah Read, 

R. P. Dunn, 

Robert G. Cory, 

David A. Coit, 

Phebe V. Lyon, 

Hannah S. Harvey, 
George H. Potter, 
John Horfwell, 
Benjamin Cornell, 
Sarah Ann Whitford, 
Mary J. Sweet, 
Alexander M. McG. Bliven, 
Thomas E. Hudfon, 
Thomas D. Hudfon, 
Mary C. Phillips, 



Providence, 
Fall River, 
Providence, 
South Kingfton, 
Little Compton, 
Providence, 



South Kingibn, 
Providence, 



Briftol, 
Providence, 
Portfmouth, 
Providence, 
North Providence, 
Providence, 
Hope Village, 
Aquidneck Village, 
Providence, 



NAMES. 


2 


John E. Burroughs, 


Providence, 


George H. Pearce, 


Briftol, 


Richard Boyd, 


a 


Caroline B. Spooner, 


a 


Mary E. Bailey, 


Providence, 


Jeremiah C. Blifs, 


(( 


John Gladding, 


(( 


Thomas M. Clarke, 


Hopkinton, 


Hannah R. Randall, 


Providence, 


Caleb Corey, 


a 


William L. Martin, 


C6 


Mary E. Snow, 


Phenix Village, 


Minnie V. Snow, 


(( 


Eliza C. Pickering, 


Providence, 


Mary O. Reynolds, 


Wickford, 


Nancy Sweet, 


Providence, 


Almira Sherman, 


a 


Harriett G. Dennis, 


Portfmouth, 


Benjamin Anthony, 


Smithfield, 


James P. Taylor, 


Providence, 


Sarah S. Horton, 


Briftol, 


Stafford S. Nickerfon, 


Providence, 


Sufan P. Thurlton, 


(( 


George M. Carpenter, Jr., 


(( 


Albert M. Hewitt, 


(6 


Gardner T. Swarts, 


(( 



267 



268 



THE RE-UNION. 



William G. Swarts, 
Giles Manchefter, 
Silas H. Manchefter, 
Peter T. W. Mitchell, 
John S. Thurfton, 
William H. Dart, 
B. C. Brown, 
John O. Potter, 
Alfred B. Chadfey, 
Elizabeth H. H. Otis, 
Alfred Potter, 
Albert Plarrington, 
George W. Thomas, 
John B. Cook, Jr., 
John T. Cornell, 
Jofeph Watfon, 
Emehne Pitts, 
Almira P. Collins, 
Nathaniel C. Peckham, 
Ellella Hazzard, 
Humphrey Almy, 
Hannah Siffon, 
John B. Eddy, 
Nancy Brown, 
Sarah L. Howard, 
Mary Billings, 



Providence, 



Wickford, 
Providence, 



Wickford, 

Providence, 
(( 

(( 

u 
a 

Tiverton, 

North Providence, 

Providence, 

Coventry, 

South Kingfton, 

North Kingfton, 

Providence, 

Barrington, 



NAMES. 



269 



William A. Greene, 


Providence, 


James Handly, 


Portfmouth, 


Samuel H. Wales, 


Providence, 


Eliza S. Brown, 


£( 


Charles Spooner, 


Briftol, 


Lewis D. Lawton, 


Providence, 


Michael Freeborn, 


(( 


James M. Maxfon, 


C( 


Abby W. Palmgru, 


(C 


Charles H. Kenyon, 


Tiverton, 


John H. Spooner, 


Portfmouth, 


John Gladding, Jr., 


Brirtol, 


Mary J. Baker, 


Pawtucket, 


Miles B. T.Rwfon, 


Cranfton, 


Sarah A. Lawfon, 


(( 


Henry A. Weeden, 


Providence, 


John H. Ailman, 


(( 


Hannah H. Peckham, 


Smithfield, 


William T. Lawton, 


Providence, 


Mary Potter, 


cs 


Sul'an H. Seamans, 


u 


William Fofter, 


Cranilon, 


Henry A. Lawton, 


Scituate, 


Mary Stoddard, 


Providence, 


George W. S. Burroughs, 


u 


Ifaac Lawton, Jr., 


Central Falls, 



24^ 



270 



THE RE-UNION. 



William S. Clarke, 
Abby S. Snow, 
Phebe L. SiiTon, 
B. L. Burdick, 
Margaret Briggs, 
Daniel T. Rodman, 
Edward H. Burroughs, 
Richard W. Bufli, 
William S. Holt, 
Thomas Dennis Updike, 
Albert C. Bennett, 
Robert L. Thurfton, 
Gideon T. Peckham, 
Jane D. Scott, 
Sarah L. Harrington, 
Amey E. Burdick, 
Lizzie B. Burdick, 
James H. Mumford, ' 
Mary P. Searle, 
Nathaniel S. Greene, 
Lydia T. Greene, 
Mary T. Knight, 
William Maxon, 
Mary P. Bentley, 
William M. Rodman, 
Phebe Ann Rofe, 



Providence, 



North Providence, 
South Kingfton, 
Providence, 

Exeter, 

Wickford, 

Briftol, 

Providence, ■ 

Smithfield, 

Providence, 



Briftol, 

Providence, 

Wefterly, 

Providence, 
Narraganfett, 



NAMES. 



271 



Jofhua W. Tripp, 


Providence, 


E. B. Anthony, 


Briilol, 


Daniel Chase. Jr., 


Prudence Illand, 


Robinfon Chafe, 


u 


Benjamin F. Goddard, 


Providence, 


Henry Bull Lyman, 


a 


Charles Potter, 


• Prudence Ifland, 


Thomas C. Williams, 


Warren, 


John Gardner, 


Briftol, 


Elizabeth French, 


Providence, 


Mary Pierce, 


(( 


Frank A. Vars, 


Briftol, 


B. Reynolds, 


Wefterly, 


Mary M. Dunham, 


Providence, 


Sarah J. Dunham, 


(( 


Ann G. Tilley, 


ti 


William S. Simmons, 


Briftol, 


Leonard C. Marble, 


Providence, 


John S. Gladding, 


Wickford, 


Hannah Sherman, 


Providence, 


James Perry Butts, 


u 


Jofeph Sanford, 


North Kingfton, 


Benjamin N. Wilbour, 


Providence, 


Adaline Townfend, 


(( 


John W. Spooner, 


Brilbl, 


George S. Flarwood, 


Providence, 



272 



THE RE-UNION. 



Mary S. Harwood, 
Abby Hawkins, 
Eliza T. Gardner, 
William H. Simmons, 
Freeborn Coggefliall, 
Edmund Albro, 
William R. Landers, i 
Mary E. Herrick, 
Olivia H. Stanhope, 
Patience B. Whiting, 
John A. Townfend, 
Alexander M. McGregor, 
Charles Davis, 
Jane Richardfon, 
Charlotte Lawton, 
Elizabeth C. Balch, 
William J. Wyman, 
Mary T. Richardfon, 
James B. Hollvins, 
Michael M. Friend, 
A. L. Young, 
W. A. Wilfon, 
Remington Sherman, 
Ann Eldred, 
Feleg Eldred, 
Mary S. Burroughs, 



Providence, 



Pawtucket, 
Providence, 
Little Compton. 
Providence, 



Jr. 



Briltol, 
Johnfton, 
Scituate, 
Providence, 



Block Illand, 
Eaft Greenwich, 
Providence, 

Jameftown, 

Providence, 



NAMES. 



273 



Samuel Burroughs, 
George F. Stanton, 
Henr) B. Potter, 
Robert Dunbar, 
William B. Phelps, 
William H. Clinton, 
Eliza A. Burroughs, 
George S. Tilley, 
Nathaniel C. Vars, 
M. Juliet Vars, 
Charles SilTon, 
Hiram Barker, 
Ifaac A. Sherman, 
George Rodman, 
George P. Smith, 
Matilda B. Humphrey, 
William Dunbar, 
James C. Molten, 
Sallie Brown Cranfton, 
Gardner Cottrell, 
Abby Underwood, 
George Cooke, 
Mary Ann Chace, 
Perry M. Peckham, 
Stanton Peckham, 
Sarah Allen Peckham, 



Providence, 
Brirtol, 



Providence, 

Warren, 

Briftol, 

Portfmouth, 

Providence, 
Tiverton, 
South Kingfton, 

Providence, 

Briftol, 

Woonfocket, 

Providence, 

Greenwich, 

Providence, 

Warwick, 

Middletown, 

Fall River. 



2y4 THE RE-UNION. 


John J. Peckham, 


Fall River, 


Lizzie A. Peckham, 


(( 


Edward W. Lawton, Jr., 


Middletown, 


Sarah A. Gladding, 


Providence, 


Mrs. Salma M. Spink, 


North Kingfton, 


Clarriffa H. Shaw, 


Fall River, 


Abby Shaw, 


(( 


Wilham G. Sherman, 


Middletown, 


Sarah C. Tallman, 


Portfmouth, 


Eliza J. Kenney, 


Briftol, 


Francis Pitts, 


Providence, 


Hannah M. Stoddard, 


(( 


Jofeph S. Peckham, 


Fall River, 


Mrs. Sarah B. Anthony, 


Providence, 


Mary C. Bowen, 


li 


Annie C. Rider, 


ti 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



WiUiam H. Weaver, 
William H. Almy, 
Elijah Sherman, 
William Milne, 
Theodore A. Barton, 
Mary M. Barton, 
Sarah C. Barton, 



Springfield, 
Cambridge, 
Eaft Cambridge, 
Fall River, 
New Bedford, 



NAMES. 



275 



James Lawton, 
William H. King, 
J. P. Burdick, 
B. Hazzard Stevens, 
William B. Hill, 
Oliver P. Barker, 
Benjamin T. Lawton, 
Nathaniel Adams, Jr., 
Sarah B. Burdick, 
Sarah Burdick, 
William Y. Potter, 
William Rogers Taylor, 
George P. Hammett, 
James G. Dougherty, 
George E. Faifneau, 
Abby F. Barker, 
Mary S. Lawton, 
John A. Albro, 
Sarah H. Bird, 
Olivia Ellis, 
John P. Newell, 
George B. Dunham, 
Benjamin G. Palmer, 
Alice Allen, 
William H. Taylor, 
Elizabeth Ann Taylor, 



New Bedford, 
Gardner, 

Bofton, 

Gardner, 

New Bedford, 

Fairhaven, 

Yarmouth, 

Gardner, 

Worceiler, 
Charleftown, 
Springfield, 
Andover, 
New Bedford, 



Cambridge, 

Taunton, 

New Bedford, 

Bofton, 

New Bedford, 

Wrentham, 

Belchertown, 

New Bedford, 



27b THE RE-UNION. 


John W. Hill, 


Gardner, 


Henry C. Hill, 


(( 


Thomas Coggefliall, 


New Bedford, 


Caroline S. Coggefliall, 


u 


Peleg Lawton, 


C( 


Mrs. E. W. Allen, 


Nantucket, 


John H. Swan, 


Bofton, 


James Hill, 


Springfield, 


Caroline Hill, 


Gardner, 


Nathan E. Hammett, 


New Bedford, 


Catherine C. Hammett, 


u 


George L. Peckham, 


Gardner, 


Abby C. Peckham, 


(( 


Rebecca E. Brownell, 


New Bedford, 


Daniel A. Chappell, 


C6 ^ 


James M. Lawton, 


ii 


Mrs. William Whitton, 


cc 


Mrs. David Cochran, 


<< 


Mrs. Philip Macey, 


Nantucket, ; 


Mrs. Pheby B. Sherman, 


Eaff Cambridge, 

cc 


Elijah Sherman, 


C. C. C. Jernegan, 


N. Bridge water, 


Robert S. Covell, 


Boflon, 


Caroline W. Covell, 


cc 


N. U. Lyon, 


Fall River, 


Ellen S. Church, 


cc 



NAMES. 



277 



Elizabeth S. Church, 
John C. Wilfon, 
Frederick A. Euftis, 
Betfey Dean, 
Jane L. Folger, 
Emma L. Tilley, 
Charles S. Lloyd, 
Arthur A. R. Bittner, 
Francis G. Jack, 
James Horfwell, 
Solon W. Bufli, 
Jane Pv. B. Almy, 
Lydia Floward, 
Benjamin RulTell Allen, 
Clarke Crandall, 
Mary Ann Crandall, 
Paul Faber, 
David Mitchell, 
Joi'eph Clarke, 
Charles W. Coggefliall, 
Mary E. Wilcox, 
William Weftgate, 
Elizabeth H. Pitman, 
Francis M. SilTon, 
James M. SilTon, 
Charles Lawton, 
25 



Fall River, 

New Bedford, 

Milton, 

Fall River, 

Nantucket, 

Gardner, 

South Weymouth, 

Bofton, 

New Bedford, 

Bofton, 

Medfield, 

South Dartmouth, 

Fall River, 

Marblehead, 

Fall River, 

Bofton, 
Nantucket, 
New Bedford, 



Nantucket, 
New Bedford, 
Fall River, 
North Dartmouth, 
Taunton, 



278 



THE RE-UNION. 



Sarah A. Cook, 
D. S. McDougall, 
G. Barker Peckham, 
Caroline S. Peckham, 
John P. Sanford, 
Sarah Young, 
Mary Wrightington, 
Silas Davoll, 
J. D. Hall, 
Otis Seabury, 
Luke Bliven, 
F. C. Rodman, 
Samuel D. Hopkins, 
Thomas P. Rodman, 
Atherton Shearman, 
Junius M. Stevens, 
Walter Channing, 
Charlotte M. Stall, 
George A. Wilfon, Jr., 
E. T. Taber, 
Amanda G. Taber, 
James W. Cornell, 
Benjamin Lawton, 
Benjamin Peabody, 
William M. Almy, 
John W. Peabody, 



Fall River, 
North Attleboro', 
Weilport, 

Fall River, 



New Bedford, 

Somerfet, 
Fall River, 
Bofton, 
Bridgewater, 
Swan fey, 
Bofton, 

Taunton, 
New Bedford, 



Fall River, 
Freetown, 



NAMES. 



279 



John B. WInflow, 
Alexander P. Moore, 
Thomas Cooke, 
Mary H. Leach, 
Anthony D. Ptichmond, 
Jofeph Brownell, 
George E. Peabody, 
Martha F. Rowland, 
Robert S. TiUey, 
Ann Maria Tilley, 
Edward W. Watfon, 
Langworthy Almy, 
Phebe T. Chace, 
Alfred Peckham, 
Charles Brownell, Jr., 
William B. GifFord, 
Martin V. B. Peckham, 
William H. Almy, 
George W. Little, 
James Weftgate, 
Jofeph R. Dunham, 
Stephen Y. Dunham, 
Nathan Barker, 
Nathaniel Richmond, 
Charles Brownell, 
Robert Allen, 



Cambridge, 
Nantucket, 
New Bedford, 
Roxbury, 
New Bedford, 



Gardner, 

New Bedford, 
Fall River, 

Middleborough, 
Gardner, 
New Bedford, 

Eaft Cambridge, 
Charleftown, 
Nantucket, 
Dartmouth, 
New Bedford, 



Bofton, 

New Bedford, 



2bO THE RE-UNION. 


Samuel E. Sherman, 


Fall River, 


Ruth T. Sherman, 


u 


Phebe H. Richmond, 


New Bedford, 


Mary Ann H. Cook, 


a 


Robert C. Pitman, 


ii. 


Charlotte A. Perry, 


Fairhaven, 


James W. Shaw, 


Eaft Brighton, 


Sarah A. Davis, 


Somerfet, 


Sarah Ann Swain, 


Nantucket, 


Mrs. A. V. Wheelock, 


Roxbury, 


Lucinda Lufcomb, 


New Bedford, 


Francis Howland, 


4; 


William B. Stall, 


Bofton, 


Ruffell J. Peckham, 


Fall River, 


George W. Peckham, 


(( 


Mary B. Hudfon, 


(( 


Eliza J- Allen, 


(6 


Mahala Allen, 


ts 


Hiram Sherman, 


New Bedford, 


Mary A. Read, 


a 


James Peckham, 


i(. 


William B. Tilley, 


Taunton, 


Mary P. Booth, 


New Bedford, 


Mary E. Stanton, 


a 


Perry M. Peckham, 


Fall River, 


Elizabeth B. Stedman, 


Bofton, 


William Sanford, 


Taunton, 



NAMES. 



281 



Emily P. Stall, 
Charles Hadwin, 
William H. Alger, 
William G. Langley, 
William McClaflin, 
Ifaac Fifli, 
Jane G. Fifli, 
William S. Clarke, 
Ruth B. Clarke, 
Defire Nichols, 
Albert Jack, 
Thomas H. Melville, 
Robert C. Topham, 
John B. Atkinfon, 
Eliza W. Cornell, 
Charles A. Swafey, 
Mary F. Hammett, 
Eliza R. Hammett, 
Edwin Sanford, 
Charles Sanford, 
John L. Chafe, 
J. C. Burdick, 
Benjamin H. Chace, 
Sarah C. Chace, 
George C. Tew, 
Alfred S. Stanhope, 



Taunton, 
Worceiter, 
New Bedford, 
Fairhaven, 
Salem, 
Fall River, 

New Bedford, 

Fall River, 
New Bedford, 
Taunton, 
New Bedford, 
Lawrence, 
New Bedford, 
Fall River, 

Springfield, 

(( 

New Bedford, 
(( 

Pawtucket, 

a 

Fairhaven, 

New Bedford, 
Lawrence, 



282 



THE RE-UNION. 



William T. Wyatt, 
Benjamin P. Braman, 
Almira C. Booth, 
Harriett T. Cafwell, 
William R. Eafton, 
William Hadvvin, 
Thomas R. Peabody, 
Thomas F. Southwick, 
Edward Coddington, 
James D. Slocum, 
Henry Lyon, 
Richard Swan, Jr., 
Sufan A. Pengelley, 
Catharine B. Fiflier, 
Thomas R. Miles, 
Samuel R. Boone, * 
B. G. Wilfon, 
B. S. Coggeiliall, 
J. S. Peckham, 
Benjamin Almy, 
William H. Keenan, 
Samuel R. Keenan, 
Mary T. Harrington, 
J. Henry Boone, 
Jeremiah Greenman, 
Joliah Greenman, 



Fall River, 
New Bedford, 



Nantucket, 

Taunton, 

Attleboro'. 

Bofton, 

New Bedford, 

Fall River, 

New Bedford, 



Wareham, 
Fall River, 
New Bedford, 
Bofton, 
Wrentham, 
New Bedford, 
Fall River, 

Milford, 
Fall River, 
New Bedford, 



NAMES. 




Benjamin C. Ward, 


New Bedford, 


Deborah Townfend, 


u 


Sufan B. Lewis, 


«( 


Dorcas B. Stret, 


a 


Ifaac E. Peckham, 


(( 


Oliver H. Bufli, 


Fall River, 


Mary Ann Bulli, 


(( 


Sarah C. Vickery, 


(( 


Mary Ann Pratt, 


«c 


Caroline S. Grey, 


New Bedford, 


Nancy B. Green, 


Rehobeth, 


William B. Scott, 


New Bedford, 


Francis Lake, 


Fall River, 


Ifaac P. Siffun, 


(( 


Samuel C. Barker, 


New Bedford, 


Alfred Wilfon, 


(6 


T. Hervey Ellis, 


(( 


Abby F. Knipe, 


(( 


Nancy B. F. Brown, 


Bofton, 


Henry F. Thomas, 


New Bedford, 


Catharine Dexter, 


Mattapoifet, 


John E. Lyon, 


Taunton, 


Samuel S. Allen, 


Fall River, 


Richard S. Peckham, 


(( 


John R. Peckham, 


Attleboro', 


WiUiam Gibbs, 


New Bedford, 



283 



284 

Jofeph Southwick, Jr., 
Henry Sanford, 
Fanny B. Sanford, 
Caroline L. Taber, 
Ifabella C. Taber, 
William Cranfton, 
Samuel Watfon, 
Abby A. French, 
William T. Allen, 
David Huntington, 
Samuel J. Carr, 
Stephen B. Perry, 
Benjamin W. Spooner, 
Richard Mitchell, 
William H. Sherman, 
Charles B. Peckham, 
Mary A. Ide, 
Jofeph G. Albro, 
Hannah B. Godfrey. 
Jofeph H. Lawton, 
F. C. Lawton, 
Martha P. Whiting, 
Edward E. Carpenter, 
Daniel Cook, Jr., 
Jofeph S. Freeborn, 
William H. Chappel, 



THE RE-UNION. 



Hyannis, 
New Bedford, 



Fall River, 

Nantucket, 
New Bedford, 
Fairhaven, 
New Bedford, 
Fall River, 
Bofton, 
Somerfet, 
Attleboro', 
North Attleboro', 

Fall River, 

Worcefter, 

Attleboro', 

Palmer, 

Fairhaven, 

Uxbridge, 



NAMES. 



285 



Jofeph C. Tew, 
George R. White, 
James Hammett, 
Rebecca A. Goodfpeed, 
Lydia D. Hammett, 
George W. Goodfpeed, 
George W. Taber, 
Peter G. Munroe, 
John T. Lawton, 
Lewis R. Winflow, 
B. Goddard Mumford, 
Jane Mumford, 
Caleb A. Carr, 
Abby S. Carr, 
WiUiam W. Stewart, 
George H. Church, 
Pardon TiUinghaft, 
Jofeph S. TiUinghaft, 
James Taylor, 
Amelia F. Taylor, 
George B. Pitman, 
William Potter, 
Charles Cannon, 
Henry R. Wilcox, 
John B. Tilley, 
Thomas W. Wiibour, 



New Bedford, 

Hingham, 

New Bedford, 

Bofton, 

New Bedford, 

Bofton, 

Stoneham, 

Bofton, 

Eaft Cambridge, 
Bofton, 

New Bedford, 

Fall River, 

New Bedford, 



Pelham, 
Lawrence, 
New Bedford, 



Gardner, 
Attleboro', 



286 



THE RE-UNION. 



John B. Allen, 
Sufan E. Boyd, 
E. B. Williams, 
William H. Freeborn, 
Tryphena Jackfon, 



Stoneham, 
New Bedford, 
Foxboro', 
Fairhaven, 
Ouincy. 



NEW YORK. 



Abby P. Lathers, 


New Rochelle, 


William B. Goodwin, 


New York City, 


John W. Downing, 


(( (( 


John Hammond, 


Norwich, 


John H. Baker, 


Brooklyn, 


Philip B. Sherman, 


Troy, 


George Knight Thorndike, 


New York City, 


Mrs. Mary Ann Sheffield, 


Homer, 


Sarah B. Phillips, 


(( 


Elizabeth S. Lane, 


Brooklyn, 


Harriett G. Marvin, 


a 


Charles Brooks, 


New York City, 


William H. Moore, 


Hempftead, 


Mrs. J. S. Safford, 


New York City, 


Caroline M. Thurfton, 


4( il 


Charles M. Thurfton, 


it «C 


Harriet SiUiman, 


Brooklyn, 



NAMES. 



287 



William H. Cranfton 
Francis Vinton, Jr., 
William G. Read, 
Charles T. Freebody, 
S. F. Gardner, 
Maria Lewis, 
James H. Douglafs, 
Henry Cottrell, 
Ruth A. Champlin, 
William L. TiUey, 
Chriftopher E. Lewis, 
Benjamin A. Mumford, 
John R. Mumford, 
George Sherman, 
Joanna S. Sherman, 
Richard W. Swan, 
James Robinfon, 
Stephen Cahoone, 
Jarvis P. Calvert, 
Philander Shaw, 
Nancy W. Shaw, 
Eliza H. Day, 
Eliza D. Peckham, 
Thomas T. Sheffield, 
Anna B. Sheffield, 
Julia A. Sheffield, 



New York City, 

Brooklyn, 

New York City, 

Waterloo, 

New York City, 

Brooklyn, 

New York City, 

Buffalo, 

New York City, 

Caton, 

New York City, 



Brooklyn, 



New York City, 
Brooklyn, 



288 



THE RE-UNION. 



Harriett N. Bell, 
Henry T. Irifli, 
William Engs, 
-Thomas T. Brewller, 
John Stanton Gould, 
Frank M. Breefe, 
Oliver Hazard Perry, 2d, 
Ann Caroline Foley, 
William Childs. 
Samuel V. Mann, 
Thomas P. Nichols, 
Stanton Beebe, 
M. Louiia Cranfton, 
Thomas H. Stacey, 
Mary C. Stacey, 
Barbara M. Peckham, 
George H. Melville, 
W. H. Lawton, 
A. 11. D. Peterfon, 
Elizabeth S. Tilley, 
Benjamin Hathaway, 
Benjamin Bryer, 
Benjamin Newton, 
Harriett S. Ellery, 
Conrad C. Ellery, 
Elizabeth S. Peckham, 



Brooklyn, 

New York City, 

Syracufe, 

Hudfon, 

New York City, 

Williamlburg, 
New York City, 

Brooklyn, 

44 

New York City, 
Brooklyn, 

.4 

Montgomery Co. 

New York City, 

Troy, 

Brooklyn, 

New York City, 

Brooklyn, 

44 

New York City, 



NAMES. 



289 



Thomas Vernon, 
Theodore K. Gibbs, 
John A. Braman, 
John P. Coggefliall, 
Edward J. Mann, 
Eugene B. Stacey, 
Charles March, 
Juha Jay Pierrepont, 
John E. WilHams, 
Samuel Ellery Vernon, 
WiUiam G. Turner, 
George H. Eafton, 
Abby P. Lathers, 
Octavia McClure, 
Eleanor B. Smith, 
Charles H. Ruifell, 
Joanna H. Ruffell, 
Mary G. Ruffell, 
Robert Hone, Jr., 
Mrs. G. M. Chamberhn, 
WilHam B. Bhfs, 
William Coddington Davis, 
James Eldred Brenton, 
Harriett S Wright, 
Mary G. Farnum, 
J. Loais Northam, 
26 



New York City. 

Brooklyn, 

Haverftraw, 

New York City, 

Brooklyn, 

New York City, 



New Rochelle, 
Brooklyn, 

New York City, 



Brooklyn, 

Jamaica, 

New York City. 

Mechanicfville, 

Brooklyn, 



290 



THE RE-UNION. 



Cornelius Wilbour, 


Brooklyn, 


Walter Nichols, 


a 


Henry Molten, 


New York City, 


Sufan E. Brewfter, 


Syracufe, 


William H. Douglafs, 


Brooklyn, 


Mary A. Douglafs, 


(C 


George S. Coe, 


ct 


Thomas E. Townfend, 


Syracufe, 


Mary R. Brower, 


Brooklyn, 


WiUiam C. Moore, 


New York City, 


Francis B. Cole, 


«( ii 


E. Van Zandt, Jr., 


a " 


Thomas S. Marvel, 


Newburgh, 


Augullus Whiting, Jr., 


New York City, 


George Bowen, Jr., 


(( (( 


Elizabeth Bartlett, 


Weft Point, 


Harriet Bartlett, 


(( 


William A. Watfon, 


Aftoria, 


Jeffe Dunham, 


New York City, 


Charles B. Babcock, Jr., 


it « 


Alfred G. Peckham, 


(( a 


Alfred S. Childs, 


C( (( 


Phebe C. Phillips, 


Brooklyn, 


Jofeph C. Phillips, 


a 


George F. Turner, 


New York City, 


Irving Atkinfon, 


Brooklyn, 



NAMES. 




Benjamin Lake, 


Brooklyn, 


John C. Davis, 


li 


William White, 


New York, 


Thomas C. Mumford, 


44 


Mrs. C. M. Rogers, 


(( 


Hannah R. Freebody, 


Waterloo, 


^enjamin Jahleel Brenton, 


New York, 


Henry A. Clarke, 


(( 


William P. Coe, 


Brooklyn, 


El am Anthony, 


Springport, 


R. M. Shaw, 


New York. 



291 



CONNECTICUT. 



Edward P. Marfli, 
William EUery Almy, 
Richard H. Norman, 
Thomas P. Norman, 
James Pitman, 
George Irifli, 
Catharine D. Barker, 
James A. Brown, 
Abner Weaver, 
James Allen, 
Elizabeth Allen, 
Mary C. Marfli, 



Bridgeport, 
New London, 
Ledyard, 

Stonington, 
Lebanon, 

Myftic, 
Colchefter, 
New London, 
Lebanon, 

Bridgeport, 



292 



THE RE-UNION. 



Sufan Brown, 
Gardner Hall, Jr., 
Phebe M. Peckham, 
Harriet A. Higgins, 
William H. Higgins, 
William E. Marfli, 
Chriilopher V. Peckham, 
Benjamin Coe, 
H. C. Bridgham, 
Elizabeth M. Bridgham, 
Lydia Lewis, 
W. W. Peckham, 
William B. Greene, 
Stephen A. Greene, 
Lydia W. Davis, 
Charles S. Devens, 
Rebecca J. Fofter, 
Ralph Malbone, 
Charles Devens, Jr., 
Julia A. Barker, 
George Engs, 
William A Mumford, 
Harriet A. Greenman, 
Charles L. Bofs, 
Benjamin T. Cranfton, 
John McDougall, 



Colchefter, 

Weil Willington, 

Lebanon, 

Stonington, 

Bridgeport, 
Stonington, 
Groton, 



Myftic Bridge, 

Lebanon, 

Rockyhill, 

Meriden, 

Pomfret, 

Hartford, 

Pomfret, 
Hartford, 
Lebanon, 
New Haven, 
Hartford, 
Myftic Bridge, 
New London, 
Norwich, 



NAMES. 



293 



Samfon Almy, Plalnfield, 

Lydia Brown Congdon, Norwich, 

Andrew Winllow, Bridgeport, 

W. H. Chafe, Hartford 



PENNSYLVANIA. 



William L. Dennis, Philadelphia, 

Edward Gould, 

Lizzie C. Ives, 

Mary T. Kirtley, 

William H. Dennis, 

James C. Congdon, 

Sarah C. Tillinghaft, 

Sarah Throop Munroe Babb, Jerfey Shore. 



NEW JERSEY. 



Edward Taber, 
Jofliua B. Manfon, 
Sophia A. P. Woolfey, 
Iffachar Cozzens, 
Thomas C. Clarke, 
26* 



Jerfey City. 
Stephentown, 
Jerfey City. 
Guttenburg, 
Camden. 



294 



THE RE-UNION. 



NORTH CAROLINA. 



J. L. Barlow, 
Thomas W. Swan, 
Wm. K. Covell, Jr., 
C. H. Richmond, 
Margaret A. Lawton, 
Lewis N. Barlow, 
Henry M. Shaw, 



Wilmington, 
North Carolina, 
Wilmington, 
North Carolina, 
Wilmington, 

Indian Town. 



SOUTH CAROLINA. 



William T. Hazzard, 
James F. Stevens, 


Georgetown, 

(6 


Caroline A. Bufli, 


u 


Sarah C. Stevens, 


(( 


Helen D. Reynolds, 
S. R. Carr, 
H. D. Stevens, 


Charlefton, 
Georgetown, 


Thomas S. Tilley, 


C( 



OHIO. 



Eraftus P. Coe, 
James R. Newton, 



Cincinnati, 



NAMES. 



Oliver H. GefFroy, 
Richard B. GefFroy, 
Caroline M. Shultz, 
Catharine A. Geffroy, 
George H. Calvert, 
J. G. Mofes, 



Cincinnati, 



Newburgh. 



295 



OTHER STATES. 



Jofeph W. Taggart, 
Charles Bird King. 
Anna C. Weeks, 
Auguftus Bufli, 
William Gardner, 
James G. Cozzens, 
Benjamin C. Card, 

Benjamin Ellery, 
Robert Dennis, 

George A. Downing, 
Mary E. Scammon, 
William H. Townfend, 
Charles C. Stevens, 



Detroit, Mich., 
Wafliington, D. C, 
Sanbornton, N. H., 
De Witt, Iowa, 
Illinois, 
St. Louis, Mo. 
Fort Leavenworth, 
[Kanfas, 
Mobile, Ala., 
Wafliington Co., 

[Ind., 
Mobile, Ala. 
Franklin, Me. 
New Orleans, La., 
Wyoming, Lee 

[Co., 111., 



296 



THE RE-UNION. 



Ruth A. Seabury, 
Margaret E. Silfby, 
Thomas J. Cotton, 
Charles H. Mumford, 
Martha G. Townfend, 
Jofeph A. Townfend, 
Andrew V. Townfend, 
Mary A Wilbour, 
Martha S. Purcell, 
Albert C. Green, 

John G. Faxon, ♦ 
John Topham, 
Sarah E. Marccy, 
George W. Gibbs, 
James Lovie, 
Eliza C. Marks, 

Maria C. Marks, 
Abby Beck with, 
Mary Hunter Pierce, 

Walter Pearce, 
Emily Carrafco, 
Anaftafia F. Townfend, 
Daniel L. Clarke, 



Lynchburg, Va., 
Georgetown, D, C, 
Green Bay, Wis., 
Chicago, III, 
New Orleans, La., 



Detroit, Mich., 
Springfield, III, 
Alleghany County, 
[Maryland, 
Walpole, N. H. 
Wifcaffet, Me., 
Detroit, Mich., 
San Francifco, Cal., 
New Orleans, La., 
Hamilton, Canada 
[Weft, 

C( (( (( 

San Francifco, Cal., 
Bedale, Yorkfliire, 
[England, 
Mobile, Ala., 
Cardenas, Cuba, 
New Orleans, La., 
Sangamon Co., 111., 



NAMES. 



297 



James W. Mitchell, 
S. C. Spooner, 
Sufan M." Brown, 
Charles H. Northam, 
Mary C. Babcock, 
Caroline Spooner, 
S. R. Ennis, 
Hiram W. Dawley, 
Mahaley L. Babcock, . 
David Bowen, 
Gilbert C. Bowen, 
Mrs. Mary Folger Wheeler, 
apt. Peter Ch afe. 



Mobile, Ala., 
Andover N. H., 
California, 
Sacramento, Cal., 
Lewifton, Me., 



Lewifton, Me., 
Rock Ifland, 111., 

Fort Smith, Ark. 
Lancafter Co. Va. 



FINIS 



ERRATA. 

Page 57, 8th line from top, for vorth of Ocean Houfe, 
read fouth. 

Page 58, 9th line from top, for M. Gourand read M. 
Gouraud. On fame page, 12th line from top, for Gov. 
Fijk read Gov. Fijh, 

Page 89, 4th and 7th lines from bottom, for Stewart read 
Stuart. 

Page 1 10, laft line but one, for Happy read Happily. 

Page 117, laft line, for arni'^ read ar?ns. 

Page 157, loth line from top, iox ghajlly read ghojlly. 

Page 24 1, 7th line from bottom, hr moment XQz.di monument. 






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